15 August,2023 07:38 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/File
Free treatment and screening or testing facilities became available at government hospitals in Maharashtra from Tuesday, officials said, according to the PTI.
An order to this effect had been issued on Saturday, as per the PTI.
All services at the hospitals run by both the state government and civic bodies will be free, it said, the PTI reported.
But the order is not applicable to hospitals under the control of the Maharashtra Medical Education and Research Department.
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A complaint can be lodged on toll-free number 104 if a government hospital covered under the order charges a fee.
Among other things, common tests and screenings such as X-ray, ECG, blood tests and CT scans will be free. If medicines are not available at the OPD, they shall be purchased locally (by the hospital) and given to patients, the order said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (CSM) Hospital and announced Rs 71 crore funds for creation of various facilities to treat patients coming from rural parts of Thane district, and promised action against those responsible for the deaths, reported the PTI.
CM Shinde, who was accompanied by civic chief Abhijit Bangar and district collector Ashok Shingare, said the patient deaths at the CSM Hospital, located in his political turf Thane, were painful and asked all parties to desist from indulging in politics on the issue, as per the PTI.
Thane's Additional Municipal Commissioner (in-charge of health services) Sandeep Malvi said in the 24-hour period ended on Monday morning, three more patients died at the civic-run hospital, while one patient was brought dead.
He, however, did not disclose causes of their death.
The number of deaths at the Kalwa-based hospital has come down in the last 24 hours and the details are being compiled and analysed, Malvi said, reported the PTI.
The CSM Hospital had reported 18 deaths in a 24-hour period between Saturday and Sunday, following which Chief Minister Shinde ordered setting up of an independent committee to carry out a probe into the clinical aspect of the deaths.
With this, 21 patients have died at the municipal corporation-run facility since Saturday last.
The CSM Hospital was "over-loaded" and treating nearly 600 patients per day against its capacity of 500, as per officials.
The Civil Hospital located nearby in the city is being renovated, so the load falls on the Kalwa facility, former Thane mayor Naresh Mhakse, who is also spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said on Sunday.
Dr Aniruddha Malgaonkar, medical superintendent of the CSM Hospital, on Monday said the option of shifting patients to the Civil Hospital has been left to them.
"We will shift only those patients who are recovering and from among the new admissions," he said.
The CSM Hospital admits around 150 new patients per day, which has heavily increased its load, he claimed.
The Civil Hospital, located at a short distance from the CSM Hospital, has a capacity of 350 beds and its occupancy is about 50 per cent, as per officials
(with PTI inputs)
