14 November,2009 06:52 AM IST | | Alisha Coelho and Vaidehi Limaye
Private hospitals turn away accident victims despite Supreme Court directive
On November 7, 2006, Shazia (15, name changed) bled profusely after she was assaulted with a hammer on the head. Three hospitals refused to treat her before Cooper Hospital admitted her.
Private hospitals routinely turn away trauma patients despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2007 that any injured person, especially a victim of road accidents or an assault, should be given first aid when he is brought to a hospital.
Only after a patient's condition is stable, can a hospital demand payment or complete police formalities.
However, social worker Nabil Shah said, "Patients who are involved in highway accidents are taken to Sion Hospital instead of the private clinics in Navi Mumbai.
Why? Hospitals have several excuses not enough staff, no beds, no doctors. They don't want to get involved in police formalities. Trauma patients lose precious time in this rigmarole."
Hospitals say the allegations are baseless. "We have never turned away a trauma patient," said Col Masand, CEO, Jaslok Hospital. Dr Nikhil Datar, who owns a nursing home, said, "I am a gynaecologist.
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If I treat a trauma patient and his health deteriorates, I need a government framework to protect me. Right now, we're damned if we treat the patient, damned if we don't."
Different Story
Kirpal Singh, injured in the Kopri bridge crash in Thane, was given first aid at Thane Civil Hospital. His family chose to get him discharged and admitted him in a private hospital for further treatment.
