What do you do if a hospital refuses to treat you or denies you a bed?
High Court lawyer Hemant Gulati has the answers.
High Court lawyer Hemant Gulati has the answers.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00As a lawyer, I would like to inform the general public that no hospital, whether government
00:05or a private hospital, should deny a treatment or a bed to a patient, whether a Covid patient
00:11or a non-Covid patient. If they do so, they are liable for the action. Article 21 of the
00:17Constitution of India gives us every citizen a fundamental right to have a treatment or
00:23a medical treatment in the country itself.
00:26If the hospital still refuses for the treatment or bed, there are two aspects by which a complaint
00:31can be made. Number one, by filing a complaint with the Government of India, Ministry of
00:36Health. Other is by filing a writ petition before the Honourable Delhi High Court for
00:41seeking directions against the hospital or against the concerned government that action
00:45should be initiated and a treatment and a bed should be provided to the patient, whether
00:50it's a Covid patient or it's a non-Covid patient. Filing a complaint with the Government
00:54of India or Ministry of Health might not result in a quick or immediate action, wherein
00:59the patient who is looking forward for a treatment and bed might look for immediate action and
01:05the support. So, I being a lawyer, I initiated a writ petition by which I can immediately
01:11help those kind of patients who are in need of bed or a treatment, specifically in this
01:16pandemic situation. In a recent, last week only, I have succeeded in one case wherein
01:22a girl who is 85% physically paralytical, being thrown out of the hospital by a very
01:28famous hospital known as *** in which they do have the availability of bed, but still
01:35they refuse the patient to get the treatment done. So, her father gave me a call in midnight
01:39around 12.30. I have prepared the complete writ petition whole night and next day morning
01:45I got enlisted before the Honourable Court and within a span of eight hours, I got the
01:50order then and she was been immediately admitted to Max Hospital, Saket and the treatment
01:54could have been started. Similarly, in another case which I filed against another hospital
01:59which is *** wherein the patient was on ventilator and the hospital refused for bed and treatment
02:04and he has been asked by the family members to take away the patient to some other hospital.
02:09So, I have to move the same night, immediately I have to move before the Delhi High Court
02:14to seek the directions against the Delhi Government as well as against the hospital so that immediate
02:19bed and treatment should be provided. That case also took about 11 hours only that the
02:24patient was immediately been provided and shifted to another alternate hospital even
02:28though when he was on a ventilator. If a patient feels or his family member feels that they
02:33have not been provided with the proper medical treatment and due to which they have suffered
02:39certain losses and they found there is certain negligence on part of the hospital or on the
02:45part of the doctor then as per the medical negligence three things basically attracts.
02:51Number one is the criminal liability against the hospital, number two is the monetary liability
02:56against the hospital as well as against the doctor, number three is the disciplinary action
03:01against the hospital as well as against the doctor. So, if in case a patient who feels
03:08that there is certain amount of loss he has suffered, he can claim for the damages as
03:13well as for the compensation before the concerned court as well as before the consumer court as well.