On Thursday, the High Court of Delhi was displeased that the Central Govt & AAP Govt officers were not verifying whether the hospitals in Delhi are giving real-time data of availability of beds & asked them to "tighten" their administration & take stern action against "adamant hospitals" which violate the guidelines.
The observation by the HC came after the lawyer appointed as amicus curiae to assist in the matter informed the HC that 4 hospitals - RML Hospital, GTB Hospital, Apollo Hospital & Saroj Hospital -- are not updating availability of beds in real-time & one of them also refused to admit a patient according to news reports.
Taking note of the deficiency pointed out by the amicus curiae, a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel & Justice Prateek Jalan said "too much friendship of these officers with the hospitals during the present situation was not good".
"Your (Centre & Delhi government) officer must be strict. You replace your officers if they are having too much friendship with hospitals. Either change your officer or we will do it. What the amicus has shown, your officers are unable to see. What is this?
"Your people should go & verify all the data (given by hospitals). You are taking lot many steps. Government - both central & state - are pumping money. Hard earned public money is going into all this & these are the facts of some adamant hospitals," a furious bench remarked & added "tighten your administration. Nothing more is needed to be done".
The HC, during the more than an hour-long hearing via video conference, said that if the hospitals are adamant, "you are not powerless authority".
"Be strict in your approach. You are mighty governments. You should know what to do when your guidelines are not being obeyed by few hospitals.
"Take stern action. Don't be shy about it," the bench said & added that if no action taken against such hospitals all the money, efforts by doctors & officials & the various guidelines issued, "would go in vain".
The bench ordered that action in accordance with law be taken against hospitals which do not carry out real-time data update properly.
The HC suggested that officials, who are "faithful" to the Govt, be appointed in the hospitals to ensure that real-time data is made available to the public about availability of beds & ventilators.
"Such persons should be more faithful to the government than the private hospitals which are violating your guidelines," the bench said while hearing a PIL initiated by it on the basis of a video clip of a man who had to run from pillar to post to get his mother hospitalised after she tested Coronavirus positive.
The bench also directed Centre about its assessment about the preparedness of the authorities in Delhi to handle the rising Coronavirus cases now & during the coming days, when the numbers are expected to go much higher.
Authorities said Delhi recorded 3,788 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the tally of cases to over 70,000, while the number of deaths due to COVID-19 climbed to 2,365.
The other deficiencies pointed out by advocate Om Prakash, who is amicus curiae, were that there was several days time lag in update of all kinds of data on Delhi government websites & its Delhi Corona app & also that the interactive page on the app was not at all interactive.
The amicus also told the court that the Delhi Govt has not stated how many of the ambulances are dedicated for COVID patients alone & how many have advanced life support system which is required for transporting very serious patients.
The HC directed Delhi Govt to look into the aspect of the time lag in updating of data on its websites & app & also to augment its helplines before the next date of hearing on July 16.
The bench also asked the Delhi Govt to ensure it has enough testing kits available for the expected increase in Coronavirus cases in the coming days.
On this aspect, the Govt of Delhi standing counsel Rahul Mehra & advocate Chaitanya Gosain assured the bench that they were at least 15-20 days ahead with regard to requirement of testing kits vis-a-vis expected rise in cases.
He also told the court that the strategy laid down by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with regard to testing was being scrupulously followed.
Besides that almost 18,000 tests, majority of them rapid antigen testing, were being conducted each day in the city, he told the bench & added that all COVID patients in Delhi Govt hospitals were being treated free of cost.
Mehra told the Court that a counselling facility for doctors, paramedics & nursing staff, to vent their stress, has also been set up in coordination with the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS).
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