Director of Public Health G. Srinivas Rao has asserted that the government was not stopping patients coming for treatment in the hospitals in Telangana with necessary approvals.
He refuted charges that the State had imposed restrictions on the movement of people from other States. It is not made mandatory for carrying RT-PCR and other reports showing the persons to be Covid-19 negative. “We are considering them in a humanitarian angle, but we want the patients to ensure that they have prior reservation,” he said.
He said the process of admission in hospitals had been streamlined to ensure hassle free transit of patients and their attendants. Accordingly, the patient had to reserve a bed in the specific hospital online and the hospital, in turn, would forward the application to the control room with details of the patients.
The officials at the control room were issuing authorization letters online after verification of the details and the same was forwarded the patients online either through WhatsApp or other modes. “They (patients) have to show the authorization letter at the borders and they will be allowed without any obstructions,” he said.
He allayed apprehensions that hospitals could reject the patients on the ground that the bed reserved on their name had been allotted to someone else. “We will ensure that the patient will be allotted the bed once the authorization letter is issued. We guarantee that patients are not put to inconvenience after they secure authorization,” he said.
Expressing concern over the problems faced by patients who were coming without any authorization and were moving around in search of hospitals for admission, he said the process had been streamlined with a view to avoiding the loss of precious time to patients and ensuring that they received timely treatment.
Another important aspect that was factored in for streamlining the process was availability of resources like oxygen and drugs. “We want patients coming from outside to check the availability of resources and reserve beds so that they are not put to any inconvenience after entering into the State,” he said.
Asked about the exorbitant charges levied by private hospitals, he said the government was in the know of such reports and complaints were received from some quarters about this. “This is not the right time to speak about the issue. But we have knowledge about such instances. The complaints will be investigated and stringent action will be initiated against them,” he said.
