Hospitals reject 81-year-old dying patient

The institutes were allegedly fearful of the fact that the victim, who recently suffered a stroke, would not be able to get reimbursement of bills under the Central Govt Health Scheme, of which he is a member

His first visit to a hospital has turned into a huge predicament for Anil Kumar Bhattacharjee. The 81-year-old is currently on ventilator at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital after suffering a stroke about twenty days ago. And even now his family is struggling, fruitlessly so far, to get him a bed in a private hospital with modern facilities. Not one of the institutes Bhattacharjee's son has visited so far is prepared to admit this man in the last stages of his life.

Bed of nails: Anil Kumar Bhattacharjee has worked with the printing
division of a news agency. According to his family, this is his
first visit to a hospital. Pic/Mid Day

Medical emergency: The patientu00a0is now in the ICU of Safdarjung
Hospitalu00a0in the Capital. Pics/Mid Day

The CR Park resident was taken to Batra Hospital in south Delhi immediately after the stroke, where his condition was stabilised, but he was on ventilator. He was allowed to leave after 18 days. Though the patient's condition was stable, doctors said he would not be able to survive without being put on ventilator.u00a0u00a0

Late in life
Before retirement, Bhattacharjee was working with the printing division of Press Trust of India (PTI) in the Capital. His son Abhijit Bhattacharjee, who works with an MNC, said: "We rushed him to Batra Hospital, CR Park immediately. The stroke hit him while he was reading a newspaper in the morning and he suddenly fell to the ground. He had never been admitted to a hospital before this. We had a health insurance to a certain limit, which lasted till 18 days. The cost of ventilator support is Rs 25000 to Rs 30000. My father is a Central Govt Health Scheme (CGHS) holder, which provides for reimbursement of medical bills. But since the hospital is not CGHS empanelled, we cannot have the facility here and so we needed to shift him to a private hospital, which is CGHS empanelled."

Following this the family visited 17 hospitals, including Metro Hospital, Sector 11,Noida, Kailash Hospital, Noida, Max Healthcare, Saket, Jain Hospital, east Delhi, Sumitra Hospital, Noida and GM Modi Hospital, Saket.
The Bhattacharjees say that when they contacted GM Modi Hospital, Dr Manoj Malik, Consultant Neurology told them that they cannot take patients from other hospitals. Later when they told him they need a ventilator to support the patient, the doctor said they did not have a bed available.u00a0

Promise not kept
However, Spinal Injury Hospital, Vasant Kunj, which is a CGHS empanelled institute, promised the hassled family that if they could submit a letter procured from the CGHS office saying that they take the responsibility of reimbursing the expenses of the patient, the hospital would be able to admit him immediately. "On Thursday after waiting for 3 hours, when we finally got the letter (a copy of which is with MiD DAY), the doctors their told us they got another patient and hence, cannot provide us the bed," said Ritu Bhattcharjee, the patient's daughter-in-law.

"There are no facilities at Safdarjung Hospital. Everyone is sitting inside the ICU where nobody should be allowed to enter. It is terrible to be here. There are not even basic facilities. The floor of the room is littered with urine, stool, and blood and used syringes. Doctors don't answer our queries; they even refuse to give their names," said a perplexed Ritu.

Healh hazard
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is the rapidly developing loss of brain function(s) due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia (lack of blood flow) caused by blockage (thrombosis, arterial embolism), or a hemorrhage (leakage of blood). As a result, the affected area of the brain is unable to function, which might result in an inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body, inability to understand or formulate speech, or an inability to see one side of the visual field. A stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neurological damage, complications, and death.

Abhijit Bhattacharjee
Patient's son
"I am in a serious dilemma; I don't know what to do. All I can do now is take a loan and bribe the doctors to get my father admitted in a private hospital. I know his state, but I don't want him to die like this. It's humiliating."

The Other Side
Dr Mishra, Head of Neurology Dept, Spinal Injury hospital, Vasant Kunj said, "I agree we had promised them a bed. But on Thursday we got an emergency patient with a head injury. We had to provide him the ventilator; he would have died otherwise. As soon as we get this bed vacant, we will surely admit Bhattacharjee." The spokesperson of Metro Hospital, sector 11 Noida, said. "As of now I cannot comment on the matter. There must be a reason behind this. We have only seven CGHS empanelled departments, I don't know in which he was required to be admitted."

'Scheme' of things
The main components of Central Government Health Scheme are:
*u00a0The dispensary services including domiciliary care.
* Family Welfare & Maternal and Child Health Services
* Specialists consultation facilities both at dispensary, polyclinic and hospital level including X-Ray, ECG and Laboratory Examinations.
* Hospitalization.
* Organization for the purchase, storage, distribution and supply of medicines and other requirements.
* Health Education to beneficiaries.

GHS/ Govt. Specialist / CMO i/c advises specific treatment procedure / test. Permission to undergo same at one of the recognized Hospitals / Diagnostic centre is granted by CMO i/c in case of pensioner CGHS beneficiaries / ex- Members of Parliament / Freedom Fighters / ex- Governors, etc., by CMO i/c of Concerned dispensary and by Rajya Sabha Secretariat as the case may be in case of Hon'ble Members of Parliament and by HOD in case of Serving Govt. employees and by Autonomous bodies in case of serving employees and pensioners of Autonomous bodies covered under CGHS. u00a0If the beneficiary seeks permission from a CGHS recognized hospital in another CGHS city, other than the city where he is registered, permission shall be granted by Addl. Director/Joint Director CGHS of concerned city. However, no TA/DA shall be permitted if treatment facilities are available in the city of residence; TA as per entitlement is permitted if no treatment facilities are available in city of residence. OPD treatment in private recognized hospitals is not permitted except in case of Satellite cities of Delhi , viz., Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad , wherein the CMO i/c can directly refer the beneficiaries to recognized hospitals and in post operative follow up cases of Cardiac surgery, Cancer treatment, Kidney transplantation, Hip/Knee Joint Replacement , Neurosurgery and Accident cases.

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