Implement measures to improve Delhi's health infrastructure in 30 days: Delhi High Court orders State

The Delhi High Court recently ordered the Delhi Chief Secretary and the Health Secretary to implement immediate measures suggested by a committee of experts for improving the health infrastructure in the national capital within 30 days..A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said that the measures should be implemented within the timeline suggested by the expert committee (30 days).The Court clarified that since the recommendations will go a long way in saving human lives and are not political in nature, the Model Code of Conduct imposed on political parties in the lead up to the Lok Sabha elections shall not be a hindrance to their implementation.“The Chief Secretary and the Principal Health Secretary shall also indicate a road map as to how they intend to implement the intermediate and long term measures within the timeline stipulated by the Expert Committee. Let an action taken cum status report be filed by the Principal Health Secretary within four weeks,” the Bench ordered.The case will be heard next on May 24 and the expert committee has been given liberty to file a supplementary affidavit in four weeks. .The short-term immediate measures suggested by the committee are:.Introduction of emergency services in the Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK). A mechanism of online approvals for availing DAK facility within 4 hours of application should be ensured.Residents of Delhi should be allowed to use their Aadhaar card in all private hospitals and get cashless facilities at the CGHS rates in an emergency situation in any nearby facility. Private hospitals should be asked to give such an undertaking while operating in Delhi.Dedicated full time MS/Director for all hospitals.Teach faculty to provide telemedicine services to district hospitals..The intermediate and long-term measures suggested are:.National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers(NABH) accreditation of all Delhi hospitals by December 2024.Start tele-medicine services.Start teaching programs for doctors, nurses and paramedics at society-based hospitals and district hospitals.Dedicated Chief Engineer(s) of the Public Works Department (PWD) for Delhi hospitals.Non-medical HR professionals for running ministerial and ancillary services.Yearly enhancement of Delhi's health budget to meet the growing needs of quality healthcare for Delhi citizens. Opening up of at least one medical college in every district of Delhi, by converting hospitals with 300 bed capacity to teaching hospitals.Facilitating the private sector to open medical college-cum-speciality hospitals in Delhi.Providing at least 5 Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) ambulances round the clock in each district to help the citizens to avail of emergency care. These ambulances should be linked to a Centralised Command and Control Room (CCR)..The expert committee was constituted by the High Court in February 2024 to assess Delhi’s health infrastructure and suggest ways to improve the facilities at hospitals run by Central and Delhi government as well as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The Court had passed the order noting that it is apparent that the infrastructure - be it in form of medicine, machines, or manpower - is woefully lacking at Delhi’s government hospitals.It noted that only six CT Scan machines are available in 19 Delhi government hospitals, which cater to a population of more than three crore..The committee has the following members:Dr SK Sarin, Chancellor ILBS (Chairman)Dr Nikhil Tandon, Professor & Head of the Dept of Endocrinology and Metabolism, AIIMSDr DK Sharma, MS, Dr RP Eye Centre, AIIMSDr Suresh Kumar, Director, LNJP HospitalDr Piyush Gupta, Professor of Paediatrics & Principal, University College of Medical SciencesDr Deepak K Tempe, Senior Professor, Vice Chancellor, ILBS..Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal and Advocate Ashok Agarwal acted as amici curiae in the matter. They were assisted by Advocates Ashna Khan, Kumar Utkarsh, Manoj Kumar and Vishwajeet Singh Bhati.Advocates Nancy Shah and Haridas Medha Dilip represented the petitioner named Madhu Bala.Advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi represented petitioner Dr Nand Kishor Garg.Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Kirtiman Singh along with advocates Waize Ali Noor, Shreya V Mehra, Varun Rajawat, Ravinder Agarwal and Lekh Raj Singh appeared for UPSC.Union of India was represented through CGSCs Ajay Digpaul, Apoorv Kurup as well as Advocates Kamal Digpaul, Ishita Pathak and Akhil Hasija.The Delhi government was represented through its Standing Counsel Avnish Ahlawat, Additional Standing Counsel Satyakam and Avishkar Singhvi and Advocates NK Singh, Naved Ahmed and Vivek Kumar Singh.Advocate Siddharth Panda represented the expert committee..[Read Order]