Ajay Sahu and his son Ram Bilas first visited the Lok Nayak, Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) and Dr Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan hospitals, all of which have been listed as approved dialysis centres by the Union government, but were turned away.
In yet another case of flagrant apathy, a 75-year-old man needing dialysis was denied treatment at three major government hospitals in the Capital, as they did not have a spare bed. Even a letter from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not serve any purpose and the man has now been admitted to a private hospital. The family had to borrow money from friends to pay for the life-saving procedure.
Ajay Sahu and his son Ram Bilas first visited the Lok Nayak, Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) and Dr Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan hospitals, all of which have been listed as approved dialysis centres by the Union government, but were turned away.
"My father needs at least eight cycles of dialysis and each one costs Rs 2,100. It is extremely difficult to afford this treatment in a private hospital. I have borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh from a friend," said Ram, who works in the marketing team of a firm and is himself diabetic.
"I approached five major hospitals with the CM's letter in hand but all of them refused to admit my father," he added.
Under the recently launched Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme, which operates on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis, as many as 1.5 lakh patients have availed over 14 lakh free dialysis between 2016 and 17, the government has stated. Union Health Minister J P Nadda had also announced 4,000 dialysis centers across the country last year.
Commenting on the issue, Dr AK Gadpayle, Medical Superintendent at the RML hospital, said:"We have no other option but to turn away new patients. Our first priority are our already admitted patients. Currently, there are registered 160 patients waiting for a kidney transplant."
Echoing the sentiment, Dr Punita Mahajan, Medical Superintendent at the Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital, said:"We have three dialysis machines and a long list of patients waiting to get the procedure done. It is difficult to accommodate each one of them."
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