Ambulance drivers paid by pvt hosps to poach patients: Min

Kottayam: Health minister Veena George made a shocking disclosure that ambulance drivers were paid by some private hospitals for bringing patients to their hospitals. Speaking at a public meeting in Kozhencherry on Tuesday, George said that doctors told her in Ernakulam that an ambulance driver got Rs 10,000 for a patient. In one of the hospitals, vouchers were also issued, she said.She also said that the amount paid to the ambulance driver was added to the patient's bill. She also said that the case was no different in Thiruvananthapuram, where a driver got Rs 5,000 per patient. She also said that there was a special counter for these drivers. Earlier in her speech, she said that all the important hospitals in the state were taken over by global giants. Most of these companies were not running hospitals abroad but were running pharmaceutical companies. These companies took 80-90% shares in these hospitals, she claimed. Meanwhile, opposition leader V D Satheesan reacted to this by saying that if the health minister felt there was an ambulance lobby, it was the minister who should control it.