HC adjourns hearing of PIL on ‘poor’ public healthcare services

Cuttack: The Orissa high court on Monday adjourned hearing of a PIL alleging inadequacies in delivery of public healthcare services by two weeks and gave the petitioner time till then to substantiate his allegation that the state government filed an “evasive” and “misleading” additional affidavit.The state government had filed the additional affidavit after the court expressed dissatisfaction over another affidavit filed earlier. “We would like to afford a further opportunity to the state to file an additional affidavit by giving a comprehensive road map for improvement of the hospital services in Odisha and to regulate the activities of the undesirable persons who are engaged to pressurise or influence the poor patients to go to the private hospital for their health care,” the court has observed. Chittaranjan Mohanty, a 73-year-old social activist, who filed the PIL had also alleged that some agents are alluring people on government hospital premises and, in some cases, patients are pressured to get admitted to private health facilities.The court had also directed the state government to submit whether it is in a position to enact a regulation to prevent entry of such persons and their activities.Accordingly, commissioner-cum-secretary of health and family welfare, Shalini Pandit, had filed an additional affidavit stating the department had on July 5, 2023 issued an instruction to all collectors and superintendents of police on this issue. “You are instructed to step up vigilance activities in all government health facilities with specific attention to medical college hospitals, district headquarters hospitals and other high caseload facilities to check the nefarious activities of such undesirable persons (brokers/agents) and take strict action them as an exemplary measure,” it said.“As regards (a) comprehensive road map for improvement of hospital services in Odisha, the state government has taken several reform measures for strengthening delivery of healthcare services in line with sustainable development goals and striving sincerely to achieve universal health coverage in the state,” Pandit stated.The petitioner had then filed a rejoinder alleging, “It is not only evasive but also misleading. It is not at all according to the orders of the high court nor addresses the issues of proper treatment of patients raised in the petition.”When the petition was taken up for hearing on Monday, the two-judge bench of acting Chief Justice B R Sarangi and Justice M S Raman asked petitioner’s counsel Sunil Kanta Nayak to present his arguments. As Nayak sought more time, the bench posted the matter for hearing after two weeks. The affidavit also claimed a comprehensive road map with changed strategies for improving human resources, capacity building and infrastructure, equipment and drugs, among others, for a complete overhaul of the public health sector has been put in place after a meticulous gap analysis of healthcare facilities in the state.
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