Medical equipment worth crores lying unused in hospitals, says Delhi CM during GTB Visit

New Delhi: Days after the CAG report was tabled in the Delhi Assembly, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta slammed the state of healthcare under the previous Aam Aadmi Party government during a surprise inspection at the GTB hospital in East Delhi.

Rekha Gupta lamented the previous Aam Aadmi Party government over the alleged wastage of healthcare equipment and the 'poor state' of health infrastructure in the national capital.

The Chief Minister said that hospital equipment worth thousands of crores, mentioned in the CAG report, have not been used to date since the Covid pandemic outbreak.

CM Gupta further alleged that only temporary buildings were constructed by the previous AAP government, but no real health facility is available there.

According to an ANI report, the Chief Minister told reporters, "The inspection is going on and in this hospital, I can see that the entire godown is filled with equipment."

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"As per the hospital's list, there are 458 oxygen concentrators, 146 ventilators, 36000 PPE kits. There are masks, bedding, and so many things that are lying out here since the Corona outbreak. This is not just the story of one hospital, but godowns in almost every hospital are filled like this. I mentioned in the house also yesterday that equipment worth crores of Rupees is lying down in the hospitals without any utilisation. Even if any expert reviews it the equipment, it is not in the condition to be used," CM Gupta said.

She added, "Temporary buildings were made like in the Sanjay Gandhi hospital, which was made in the parking only during the COVID, and here in the sports ground, a building has been made where no facility like a Hospital is available and the building has been made in an unplanned way. Thousands of crores have been spent on the semi-permanent structures and they are still incomplete and if we spend more money on them, they still cannot be used today."

Questioning AAP further, the Delhi Chief Minister asked who will pay for the thousands of crores being wasted here, and demanded an answer from former CM Arvind Kejriwal.

She said, "After spending 2500 crores also, this semi-permanent structure is of no use, it is not in the state of utilization, there are no bathrooms, no nursing stations, no place to sit for the doctors. There are only halls after which they cannot be utilized, reports ANI.

They started 24 buildings, and out of which not even one has been completed to date. Specifically 7 Hospital during the Corona outbreak with ICU beds where semi-permanent structures had to be built, but see their condition, they are in such bad state."

"I am not in a state to answer anything, just see the condition of this structure first, or I can only say that a committee of Technical experts will be created," she added.

The chief minister expressed her concern about the state of the hospital and also stated about the shortage of several equipment while highlighting the large number of patients.

She said, "Such a huge hospital where at least 7 to 8000 patients walk into OPD on an everyday basis, there are thousands of admissions every day, there is not even a single MRI machine in the hospital, the CT scan is a 12-year-old machine when one CT Scan Machine has a lifespan of only 10 years. In the hospital, there are vacant posts, there are only 95 ICU beds. In the gynae center, there are at least 1800 to 2000 child deliveries in a month, and the condition of the hospital is in such a bad state. They were bragging about this health model in front of the entire world. The payments are real, but the rest of the things are fake in the files."

Highlighting the center's Ayushman Bharat scheme, she added, "The Prime Minister wanted to implement Ayushman Bharat scheme but they didn't let it come when even the High Court said that it is in favour of the people but Kejriwal ji didn't let it get implemented. It is just disheartening to see such conditions of the hospital."

CM Gupta further alleged that the CAG report tabled in the Delhi assembly shows 'scams' of over Rs 2000 crore in the health sector, and her government aims to improve the facilities in government hospitals and has decided to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the national capital.

She added that a committee of Technical experts will be created to deal with the equipment lying in hospital godowns and to check if they can be utilized in any way.

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