NEW DELHI: In a recent circular issued by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), hospitals have been has asked not to charge people for providing two new bed sheets after the death of a patient and have been urged to make intensive care units affordable.
The suggestion comes months after a private hospital in Gurugram was accused of overcharging a seven-year-old girl's family for treatment of dengue. The father said the hospital charged even for the piece of cloth they had given to cover the body of the child after she passed away.
Formulated along the lines of the Delhi government's policy, the policy asks hospitals to allow patients to bring medicines from outside.
"The medical profession is not a business and all doctors should provide reasonable subsidy to their patients...," noted the Association.
"Our objective is to ensure that affordable, available, accessible and accountable quality and safe health care is provided to all in a stress-free environment," said Dr KK Aggarwal, national president, IMA.
The 20-point communication adds that doctors should look to bring preventable deaths down to zero, for which IMA recommends that every preventable death is audited to find out what went wrong.
"Cost of emergent medical care in ICU is 200 per cent on the first admission day, 100 per cent on subsequent days and 150 per cent in critical-ill terminal patients. Most patients cannot afford terminal care in tertiary care hospitals and this care, therefore, should be subsidised by the government," noted IMA.