AHMEDABAD: For many years now, the civic body has been empaneling private medical practitioners as consultants to attend to patients at the urban health centres (UHCs). But now a complaint registered at Rakhial UHC, accusing a medical consultant of coaxing patients at the AMC-UHC into visiting private clinic, has opened the pandora’s box.
“We are looking for similar complaints across UHCs in eastern and western parts of the city. Most patients who visit the UHC cannot afford private consultation, which is the reason the government pays. But if these medical consultants direct patients to their private clinics, the matter has to be investigated,” claims a senior AMC official.
It does not end there. In the report filed on Wednesday, a senior AMC official revealed that in the south and west zones, Asha workers and even Anganwadi workers are paid a commission if they successfully direct a patient to the consultants’ private clinics. Visiting consultants such as a pediatrician, a gynecologist and a general physician are paid an honorarium of Rs 75,000 a month for daily services from 9 am to 1 pm.
Other specialists like pathologist, ophthalmologist, dentist etc are called on alternate days for visitation and paid Rs 37,500 for the four-hour service. “All specialists are required to provide their services on all working days and even the medicines have to be provided from the UHC. Only in rare circumstances are medicines to be bought from outside the UHC premises,” the AMC official added.
While elaborating on the illegal practice, it was being alleged that in Rakhial, the doctor provided their visiting card with a token number behind it and patients were asked to leave their phones outside the consulting room. “Earlier, patients had been complaining of similar practice in south and west zones as well. We are looking into these complaints,” added the AMC official.
