FIR against Apollo in Bengaluru for illegally blocking beds

As people of Bengaluru struggle to find hospital beds for the Covid-19 patients, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has alleged that several private hospitals in the city are not providing 50% of beds for government-referred Covid-19 patients as per a notification issued earlier this month.

Based on a complaint on Monday, the BBMP has initiated action against Apollo Hospital on Bannerghatta Road for illegally blocking beds and issuing a bill of ₹2.4 lakh to a patient who was referred to the hospital through the government allotment. A senior BBMP official said that Subramanyapura police on Monday registered an FIR against six people, including the hospital’s CEO, under the Disaster Management Act and various sections of the IPC.

“We came across three cases. In all three cases, patients were admitted to the hospital, and they were continued to be shown as undergoing treatment, even though they were discharged, in one case deceased. By fudging documents, they illegally blocked the beds,” said the officer.

In one of the cases, even though the patient was enrolled through BBMP allocation, the hospital issued a bill of ₹2.4 lakh, claiming some tests were not covered in the government allotment. Authorities came to know about this after the patient’s family lodged a complaint with the BBMP.

Apollo hospital was not available for comment.

The government order issued on April 7 mandated that private hospitals reserve 50% of their beds for treating Covid-19 patients referred by public authorities.

BBMP officials said that the blocking of the beds or not providing 50% of the beds to the government has been rampant since the second wave began. In a meeting held on Sunday with the Karnataka chief secretary private hospitals denying beds was the major talking point said the BBMP official.

“To give an example, there is a database available for all the hospitals that are available for allotment from BBMP, publicised online. However, no such list is available for the private hospital. Even though we had asked the private hospitals to provide this data, they have refused. This clearly shows there is foul play,” said the official.

The BBMP official said that more than 66 private hospitals in the city have been issued show cause notices for their failure to provide beds since last week. “The list includes hospitals like Fortis Hospitals, M.S. Ramaiah, Narayana Health, among others,” he said.

HT reached out to all the 66 private hospitals but there was no response. The hospitals have not responded to BBMP notice as well.

These irregularities came to light following surprise inspections by the BBMP and the complaint lodged by citizens. “Some hospitals have responded pointing technical issues and have assured to rectify the issues, while others are yet to provide a response,” he said.

Private hospitals, however, have been raising concerns over the pendency of bills from government.

Dr Prasanna, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) said the bills due from the government to private hospitals are yet to be paid. “In the first wave of the Covid-19, we had given 50% of our beds to the government. The government is yet to pay several private hospitals for these allocations. In Bengaluru, hospitals are only paid around 60% of the dues. If the government delays payment, we will not be able to operate for long,” he said.