Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Proper healthcare centres badly needed) that was published in Newsband

Proper healthcare centres badly needed

Going to the doctor is the great Indian nightmare. Are healthcare arrangements in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai upto our satisfaction? The answer is ‘No’.

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation had ordered the closure of a private hospital since it was admitting more patients than its allotted bed-strength. Before taking this step the corporation didn’t care to think as to what happens to the patients who may be on life-support.

We find that a Civic Hospital, run by the state government, has lesser beds than its sanctioned strength. Patients spill over on to the floor. The place literally stinks, bed sheets don’t go to the laundry often enough, the plates on which daily diet is served often remains with the patient for over half a day, putrefied and smelling.

There are many charitable hospitals which are run as corporate businesses, built on lands provided by the state government or the civic body with the stipulation that 10 percent of the patients treated are poor and for free or at concessional rates. The government has never been able to enforce this contractual obligation of the hospital.

You may or may not get cured in these hospitals but you lose a lot of money.

There are private hospitals which in the guise of charities, and with a tag ‘Research Centre’ to its name, avail of benefits that government provides such hospitals. Such hospitals come into existence due to the inability or unwillingness of the public sector to provide a decent – forget the best – healthcare to the public, especially the poor who often find even the out of pocket expenses towards their treatment a huge burden.

In Navi Mumbai, we find a hospital built for the city’s citizens by the civic body which is later handed over to a private operator. The commitment of the city towards its public just vanishes. Civic hospitals are decidedly cheaper than a private hospital. But the entry of corporate players spoils the whole show.

Any civic government has big responsibilities. This body should not indulge in double standards and wink at shortcomings. This attitude proves to be harmful to public in general. Today, the government hospitals aided by the private sector healthcare providers, the over-billing and excessive dependence on defensive medicine has made seeking medical help a gamble in itself. You may or may not get cured but you lose a lot of money. In our city, something drastic needs to be done in the matter of healthcare and that too very soon.