Mumbai: Nanavati Hospital, one of the major hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 treatment in the city, is overcharging patients, said patients’ rights activists in a complaint to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). While the hospital has denied the allegations, BMC officials were set to inspect the hospital on Saturday.
BMC health officials have received several complaints regarding the matter. Bills issued by the hospital, show several discrepancies, including charging over ₹8,000 for one unit of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Activists have highlighted the case of a 31-year-old man who got admitted at the hospital on April 11 after testing positive. He was first admitted to the general ward and was shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) on April 13. When he was discharged on April 15 the hospital bill amounted to ₹2,39,379; of which ₹66,699 was for medicines and ₹67,400 was for Covid care. As per the bill, which is available with Hindustan Times, the hospital has charged him ₹ 8,900 for each unit of PPE.
“There is no fixed rate for PPE at the hospital. For some patients, they charge ₹ 6,500 while for others it goes up to ₹ 9,500 per unit. The hospital, however, is procuring the same for only ₹ 750 each unit,” said Jitendra Janawale, a local politician who has filed a complaint against the hospital with BMC.
Vishwas Mote, municipal ward officer, said, “We have received the complaints, and will conduct an inspection on Saturday. As it was a public holiday, we had to postpone it.”
In another case, a 60-year-old male patient from Versova, who was admitted at the hospital on April 8, was charged ₹ 5,51,607.
A 69-year-old Covid positive woman, who has a medical history of Parkinson’s Disease, was admitted at the hospital on April 7 and was discharged on Friday with a bill of ₹ 6,97,756. Her daughters said while shifting the patient from Wockhardt Hospital, which closed after cases of Covid-19 among medical staff, to Nanavati Hospital, the hospital asked for a deposit of ₹ 50,000. The daughters further said, “My mother was in ICU but was kept only on oxygen support. I don’t know how the bill shot up so much. We had to take help from my cousin to pay the bill amount. The government needs to provide concession to elderly patients.”
Health advocates have criticised the hospital for making unreasonable claims. According to the bills, the hospital is charging ₹ 2,000 per day as staff management charges, and ₹ 800 for Covid-biomedical waste disposal. It is also claiming ₹ 1,000 as nursing charge, ₹ 2,000 for resident medical officers and ₹ 2,600 for Covid consultations per day.
Dr Abhijit More who works with Jan Aarogya Abhiyan said, “PPE is used for several patients in Covid wards, but hospitals do not split the bills and charge patients individually. Same with waste disposal system, the staff use the same gloves and bio waste bags. Patients are responsible for paying for their treatment, not for staff management.”
The hospital has also been pulled up for not providing adequate safety gears to staffers with 26 employees contracting the infection.
A politician, has written a letter to BMC commissioner Praveen Pardeshi seeking action against the hospital. “The hospital is not only looting patients but is also being negligent about the care of the patients. They are discharging in-house staff within five days, while outside patients are kept for 10-12 days,” he said.
Manpreet Sohal, chief operating officer (COO) of the hospital, has denied the allegations. He said, “We have already submitted our clarifications to BMC and are coordinating with them.” The hospital has refused to make any comment on the email sent by Hindustan Times. However, a source from the hospital said though the bill mentions ‘one quantity of PPE’, it represents per day usage of PPE.
Despite repeated calls, Pardeshi didn’t respond.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Central government after hearing a petition seeking regulation of Covid-19 treatment costs across private and corporate hospitals in the country.
Incidentally, from May 1, the Maharashtra government has decided to offer free treatment to all Covid-19 patients in the state, whether being treated in government or private hospitals, under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana insurance scheme.
