New Delhi:
Several top private hospitals in the national capital may lose their registration for not providing mandatory free treatment to poor people despite being allotted land at concessional rates.
The city government in a day or two will slap notices on eight private hospitals for flouting norms and not providing free treatment to the poor.
Delhi Health Minister A K Walia said if government was not satisfied with reply of the hospitals, then punitive action including cancellation of their registration may follow.
The eight hospitals to be issued notices include Max Hospital (Saket), Escorts Heart Institute (Okhla), Fortis Hospital (Vasant Kunj), Rockland hospital (Qutub Institutional area) and Primus Super-specialty hospital (Chanakyapuri).
The other hospitals who may be served notices are PSRI (Sheikh Sarai), Dharamshila Cancer Hospital and B L Kapoor Hospital.
"It has been found that poor patients are being denied treatment on certain flimsy grounds. In case their reply is found to be unsatisfactory, their registration will be suspended forthright and subsequent action will be taken in due course," Walia said.
The private hospitals, which were given land at a nominal rate, are obliged to reserve 10 per cent of the total beds for poor people besides giving them free treatment in out patient department.
"We have decided to take a tough stand on the violation," Walia said.