Top Mumbai Private Hospitals To Treat Slum-Dwellers For Free For A Day

In a bid to shatter the belief of poor that private hospitals are not meant for them, a first of its kind drive has been ordered by charity commissioner Shivkumar Dige wherein doctors from some of city's biggest private hospitals will offer treatment at their doorsteps on November 4. All 74 trust-run hospitals including Breach Candy, Saifee, Lilavati, Nanavati, Godrej, Kokilaben Ambani, Hinduja and Jaslok will direct their services to the slum dwellers and the homeless. The hospitals have been told to put together teams of doctors, nurses and medical social workers, who will drive into designated areas with ambulances and medicines to diagnose and treat patients. Those in need of further treatment will be referred to the hospitals. According to Dige, the drive will spread awareness about the scheme that gives the economically backward sections the right to walk into any trust-run hospital and get treated for free or at a subsidized cost. It was on the directions of the Bombay high Court that the state charity commissioner had framed a scheme for treatment of poor patients in reputed charitable hospitals in 2006.Under the scheme, 10% of the beds in hospitals have to be set aside for indigent patients and hospitals will have to give concessions to another 10% from weaker sections. Dige laments that although there are numerous schemes for the poor, very few benefit from them. Hospitals are reluctant to follow the scheme and flout the basic requirement of displaying a prominent board about the scheme.  This initiative will enable doctors to reach out to patients on the streets and in slums to offer them services and make them aware of the schemes.