look news india
A very shocking case has come to light from outside the Trauma Center of King George Medical University (KGMU) located in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, which has put the network of alleged middlemen growing around government health services in the dock. Critically ill patients from across the border districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh reach KGMU Trauma Center with hopes of life. But it is alleged that such alleged agents and private ambulance operators are active outside the gate and parking area of the Trauma Center who take advantage of the helplessness, desperation and helplessness of the attendants. These people lure family members to private hospitals by giving them the fear of ‘non-availability of beds’, ‘unavailability of doctors’ or ‘not proper care’ in government hospitals. Recently, a video that went viral on social media has created a stir in the administrative corridors, exposing the ground reality of this black business.
In a video circulating rapidly on the internet, a victimized father from Prayagraj is seen narrating his ordeal with tears in his eyes. According to the victim, he had reached Lucknow KGMU Trauma Center with high hopes to get treatment for his daughter’s serious illness. As soon as he reached near the hospital premises, he met a private ambulance employee, whose identity the victim identified as Dilip Trivedi. The victim’s father alleges that the said employee scared him badly by saying that there is a long queue in the government hospital, no senior doctor will come to see the patient and if there is delay in treatment, the girl’s life will be in danger. Instead, he offered immediate VIP treatment and all modern facilities at a low cost in a private hospital in the city. The frightened father believed the girl’s words in order to save her life.
The victim’s father says that after reaching the private hospital, the process of robbery started right from the beginning. Huge amounts of money were continuously collected from the family members in the name of admission, ICU, expensive medicines, various types of tests and ventilator charges. According to the father, as long as he had savings and loan money, the hospital management gave him false solace. But when the victim’s family became desperate for every penny and was unable to pay the huge treatment bill, the girl’s condition had worsened. Ultimately the innocent girl died during treatment. The father, who has lost his daughter and is in debt worth lakhs of rupees, has openly accused the ambulance staff and the private hospital syndicate of financial exploitation and negligence.
This painful incident is not limited to the tragedy of just one family, but it exposes the organized ‘cut-commission’ culture spread around the big government hospitals of Lucknow (KGMU, PGI, Lohia Institute). Every day complaints come to light that there is a nexus between private ambulance drivers, pathology lab representatives and some private clinics. These agents get huge commission in exchange for taking the patient to a particular private hospital. The simple attendants coming from remote rural areas remain nervous after seeing the paper formalities and huge crowd in the trauma center. In such a situation, these brokers, posing as sympathizers, trap them and directly shift them to a private nursing home, from where the process of financial and mental exploitation of the patient’s family begins.
After the viral video came to their notice, local people and human rights activists have intensified their demand for a high-level investigation into this entire matter. However, there has been no official or independent administrative confirmation of the allegations made in the viral video yet. The case is being investigated by a joint team of Lucknow Police and the concerned health department. Investigating officials say that the ambulance staff named in the video and the documents, bills and CCTV footage of the private hospital concerned will be closely examined. If found guilty, action will be taken against the concerned persons and the hospital management under strict legal sections to ensure that such mess does not happen with any other victim.
Health experts and administration have appealed to the patients and their families coming to government hospitals not to fall prey to any unknown person, unauthorized ambulance driver or agent. The triage area and Public Relation Officer (PRO) counter at KGMU Trauma Center are manned 24 hours. In case of any confusion, one should directly contact the hospital reception or the security personnel and medical staff on duty. If any person misleads about government treatment or forcibly puts pressure on taking him to a private hospital, then a complaint should be immediately lodged at the police post in the hospital or on UP-112 so that these middlemen can be controlled.