Delhi L-G Anil Baijal orders hospitals to install LED boards, display bed availability and charges

NEW DELHI: Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday ordered all health facilities and hospitals in the national capital to install LED boards at the entrance and display availability of beds and their charges. The L-G said this in his letter to the Delhi Chief Secretary.

"In order to increase transparency and to facilitate public, all major hospitals/clinics/nursing homes of Delhi should be directed to display on LED boards in large letters outside their establishments, at the entry point itself, the availability of beds, (both COVID and non-COVID, wherever applicable), along with charges including for rooms/beds and details of contact persons for admission," Baijal said in the letter.

In his letter, the Lieutenant Governor said the health department may be advised to ensure that data displayed on these LED boards reconciles with that available on the Delhi government's app.

The move is aimed at increasing transparency in the allocation of hospital beds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The LG, who is also the chairman of Delhi Disaster Management Authority, said periodic surprise checks may also be conducted by officers deputed by the DDMA to ensure that correct data is displayed by health facilities and no genuine patient is denied admission or is overcharged.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government will implement the "Centre's decision" and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's order overturning the decision on the reservation of state-run and private hospitals in the national capital
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The Delhi government has "unprecedented challenges" ahead as data shows that COVID-19 cases will rapidly increase in Delhi in the coming days, Kejriwal said.

Delhi will need 1.5 lakh beds in healthcare facilities by July 31 once people start coming to the city for treatment from other states, he said, asserting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation will make an "honest effort" to provide medical treatment to all.

"We have a big challenge ahead. We all have to fight against COVID-19 together," Kejriwal said. “The AAP government will try to make arrangements to provide treatment to all,” he said, asking people to make the fight against the novel coronavirus a mass movement.

“This is not the time to do politics. We all have to fight COVID-19 together,” the AAP national convenor said. He said that so far, 31,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Delhi and of these, 18,000 cases are active.