| Registration, Admission fees in Government hospitals up by 150 pc | | Health Deptt's silent shocker! | | Early Times Report
jammu, Dec 5: The Health Department of the state has increased the registration and admission fees at all the district hospitals upto 150 percent. The authorities are tight-lipped on the reason for increasing the fees.
On one hand the Health Department of the state is talking about exploring medical tourism in the state, but on the other, the department has increased the fees of registration and admission in all the district hospitals of the state by 150 percent. The poor patients visiting the district hospitals of the state are shocked, on being charged more for registration slip and admission cards.
Earlier, the registration slips costed Rs. 2 and admission card costs Rs. 5 to a patient in the Government hospitals of Jammu and Kashmir, but from November 1 last, the Health Department has increased the fees without announcing it officially. Now the registration slip costs Rs. 5 and Admission card costs Rs. 10 to the patients.
Abhijit Singh, a Government employee said, "The Health Department is giving nothing from their own to the patients and increasing the registration and admission fees has raised a question mark on the accountability of the department. Government hospitals are for poor people of the state, it should be free of cost and all the medicines should be available in the hospitals." "Not even a single hospital of the state has all the medicines available with them, every patient has to buy the medicines from outside, so on what basis they have increased the fees," he asked. Dr. B. S. Pathania, Director Health Services (DHS) Jammu said, "It was recommended long back, but we have implemented it from November 1."
On the reason of increasing the fees, DHS refused to comment on it saying, "It was an administrative decision, I cannot comment on it." |
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