Patients put off surgeries, fewer checks in private hospitals

AURANGABAD: Many patients to put off treatment in non-emergency cases and there is a reduced the footfall at private hospitals and clinics because of the deficiency of new currency notes even 30 days after demonetisation.
Patients and their families are having a harrowing time trying to withdraw money from banks. Banks and ATMs in the city are running short of cash and are unable to cater to the people’s requirements.
“Even after standing in a queue for over four hours to withdraw money from an ATM of a nationalised bank at Samarthnagar, I failed to get money as the machine went dry by the time my turn came,” said S R Shinde, a 53-year-old diabetic from Gangapur.
Shobha Kanade, 61-year old home-maker from Kannad, has been suffering acute knee pain and has been recommended for knee replacement surgery. She has decided to postpone her surgery. “Since the treatment is too expensive, I will have to borrow money from my relatives. I will have to wait till the situation stabilises,” she said.
With 70% to 80% of health expenditure in Aurangabad shelled out by the patients and not covered under insurance, cash crunch is forcing people to postpone their routine and planned treatments. Private medical practitioners claimed there had been almost 50%-60% dip in the number of patients coming in for treatment.
Hospital managements said that though they have offered various discounts and other privileges, patients, especially from the rural areas, are turning their back to medical care citing cash scarcity even for services like transportation.
“More than 60% patient are postponing routine and non-emergency care since the demonitisation move came into effect,” said diabetologist Tushar Chudiwal.
He added that they were accepting payments in cash and through electronic transactions. “We do not deny treatment in emergency cases. But it would have been better if private hospitals, too, were allowed to accept old currency notes till things returned to normal. Many people are still not acquainted with technology and it is unfair for the rural population to be in pace with urban technology overnight,” he added.
Anand Nikalje, Marathwada Hospital Association (MHA) member and medical superintendent of MIT super speciality hospital, said patients are unable to afford other expenses despite being offered discounts and concessions.
“They are left without cash even to buy food or routine payments such as transportation and stay. This is compelling them to postpone non-emergency treatment,” he said.
Many practitioners are accepting cheques and are also providing facility of point-of-sale machine. Despite this, city hospitals are witnessing drop in patient flow by over 60-70%. “To our shock, many cheques given by patients have bounced and causing us huge losses. Very few people prefer to use debit or credit cards,” said Pravin Soni, sectretary of Aurangabad Physicians Association.
Aurangabad Indian Academy for Paediatrics (IAP) secretary Mandar Deshpande said small nursing homes and clinics are bearing the major brunt as compared to super speciality hospitals. “In fact, with the cash crunch presenting a serious problem to patients in making payments, most city hospitals have come forward to help them by even offering free medical services and accepting cheques and debit or credit cards,” he said.
Pravin Suryanwanshi, MHA president and chief executive officer of MGM Hospital, claimed the hospital had rendered free treatment such as surgeries, ICU care, etc to the tune of about Rs 27 lakh and distributed medicines worth Rs 56,000.
Patients turn to GMCH
With the government hospital accepting the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, many patients are opting to get their treatment done at the government set-up.
Sudhir Chaudhary, medical superintendent of Aurangabad Government Medical College and hospital (GMCH), said they were witnessing a rise in the number of out-patient department (OPD) over the past two to three weeks. The hospital, which used to get around 1,800 to 2,000 patients in OPDs every day, has been receiving nearly 2,500 patients since demonitisation.
He said the hospital has been accepting the old notes and would continue to do so till December 15, 2016 as per the government directives. Meanwhile, the medical store in the hospital premises too will be accepting old notes till December 10, 2016.