A high-level inquiry will be conducted into the purchase of medicines in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hospitals and a white paper on services provided by the civic hospitals to its patients will be issued soon, Industries Minister Uday Samant announced in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Friday.
MLA Amin Patel brought up the issues related to the healthcare facilities in Mumbai, which led to a discussion for half-an-hour.
MLA Adv Ashish Shelar presented an overview on the healthcare facilities in Mumbai. He said: “As Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra, patients from rural areas come to Mumbai in large numbers. There are various hospitals in Mumbai including municipal hospitals and those run by the state government, private, charitable, and hospitals for central government workers, but there is absolutely no coordination between all these hospitals. The state government must come up with a white paper on the number of patients coming to Mumbai and whether there are adequate facilities to take care of them.”
Shelar also demanded that the expenditure incurred on these healthcare facilities must be evaluated. He said while coming out with the white paper, services provided by hospitals under the jurisdiction of charity commissioner and whether they are following the directives laid down by the government must be reviewed and verified.
MED SERVICES, PRICES OF DRUGS, ACCOMMODATION FOR CANCER PATIENTS
According to Shelar, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on an average, spends nearly Rs 4,000 crore on health facilities every year, which amounts to Rs 20,000 crore having been spent on health system over the past five years. Roughly, this amount must have been spent on approximately 45,000 patients. But unfortunately, there is misappropriation in this service as well.
In his speech, Shelar said, “Mumbaikars do not get the facilities equivalent to the taxes they pay every year. There is disparity at all levels. Although the BMC has spent Rs 20,000 crore in five years, people haven’t received facilities equivalent to this amount spent. Patients are asked to get the necessary medicines and various reports — X-Ray, sonography, etc done from outside. This proves that there is corruption which must be thoroughly investigated.”
Shelar alleged that the medicines and injections given at the private hospitals are exorbitantly priced and the patients are made to suffer. Hence the government must also come up with a rate card, through which prices of medicines can be regulated and medicines can be made available for all at fair prices. During the discussion, Shelar also demanded that the government should build accommodation for family members who accompany cancer patients to Mumbai for treatment.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Mumbai Manisha Choudhary also raised concerns over poor health-care facilities in suburban areas.
In his reply, Samant accepted the demand for a white paper and also announced that a high-level inquiry will be conducted into the procurement of medicines in the BMC hospitals.
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