Unscrupulous hospitals
The Himalayan Times
4 January 2018
Unscrupulous
hospitals
Most of the urban people have these
days easy access to health delivery facilities due to the establishment of many
private hospitals. Thousands of people visit these hospitals everyday seeking
treatment for various illnesses. The quality of their services varies depending
upon the physical infrastructures, equipment and trained and qualified human
resources. People are compelled to visit these private hospitals due to lack of
adequate number of public hospitals and inefficient services. The existing
public hospitals are not in a position to cater the growing number of
population in the urban areas. For these reasons, urban people have no other
choices but to visit the private hospitals which have monopoly.
However, whether most of the
people are able to afford the medical expense bills of these private hospitals or
not is another side of available health facilities. The rates of health services of these private
hospitals differ significantly from one another in the absence of appropriate
guidelines and directives of the government. Visiting patients seem to be
compelled to pay heavy medical bills. The people also seem to have raised
concerns about the accuracy and reliability of different pathological test
results. A few months ago, it was revealed from a survey report that not all
the lab technicians and radiologists engaged in different health facilities
were qualified and trained.
Recently, the Department of
Supply Management and Protection of Consumers’ Interest found during its
inspection visits that some of the renowned private hospitals in the Kathmandu
Valley were overcharging patients and have accordingly instructed Metropolitan
Police Division (MPD) to initiate necessary action against these unscrupulous
private hospitals.
Rai
Biren Bangdel
Maharjgunj
