Rights body urges reforms in pvt hosps

Demands ban on advance payments during emergencies, strict enforcement for concessional beds

- HT Correspondent

MUMBAI: The Jan Arogya Abhiyan (JAA)—a coalition of NGOs and healthcare professionals advocating patients' rights—has called for changes in Maharashtra's private healthcare sector and issued a set of recommendations to prevent deaths like that of 26-year-old Tanisha Bhise after she was denied emergency treatment at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital (DMH), Pune, recently, when the family allegedly failed to arrange ₹10 lakh as deposit.

As part of the reformist measures, the network has asked for a legal ban on demands for advance payment during emergencies, strict enforcement of free and concessional beds in charitable hospitals, mandatory display of patient rights and service rates, operational grievance redressal cells, and regulation of charges in private hospitals.