New Delhi: A petition has been filed before the Delhi High Court to quash a government order that wants private hospitals to reserve 80 percent of their ICU beds for COVID-19 patients. Such an order will deal a massive blow to treatment of non-COVID emergency patients, the appeal has claimed.
The petition has been filed by the Association of Healthcare Providers, alleging that such reserving of beds is also exposing non-COVID-19 patients to the risk of COVID-19 and that the order has been issued without any prior discussion with private hospitals and without understanding the current demand-supply situation of critical care beds.
“As the gaunt healthcare system in Delhi endeavours to break the tide of this pandemic, the highest cost of this fight is being borne by non-COVID-19 patients, for several months. OPD and non-emergency services were stopped in several hospitals in Delhi so that all resources were diverted for combating COVID-19 and emergency medical care,” the petition stated.
It is alleged that the impugned order has been passed in an arbitrary, unfair, and illegal manner without even realizing the difficulties that may be faced by the said private nursing homes and hospitals.
The petition has sought to quash or set aside the impugned order issued by the Delhi Government and further sough directing the government to allow private hospitals to limit the ICU bed capacity for COVID-19 patients to 40 percent of the ICU beds.
-India Legal Bureau