New Delhi: Describing the condition of Delhi’s govt-run hospitals as “bleak”, Delhi High Court Friday directed the immediate filling of vacancies for medical superintendents and medical directors across 38 govt hospitals in the capital.“How can anyone run hospitals without a full-time medical superintendent or medical director? People are handling two to three hospitals. For the first time, this has come to light today. We are feeling very bleak as of now,” the special bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora orally observed.“There should not be a single leadership position lying vacant in any of the 38 hospitals,” the court said while hearing a suo motu case initiated in 2017 over the alleged lack of critical care facilities in govt hospitals.Posting the matter for Oct, the court directed the health secretary to ensure that all 38 hospitals have full-time medical superintendents or directors. It also ordered the heads of all hospitals to appear, physically or virtually, on the next date of hearing so issues relating to unused medical equipment could be examined.Flagging manpower shortages, the bench observed that Delhi govt hospitals lacked a uniform human resources policy and faced difficulties in recruitment. It directed the health secretary to convene a meeting and devise a centralised recruitment mechanism to fill vacancies.The court also expressed dissatisfaction over the issue of unused equipment. “The court is completely unsatisfied,” the bench observed, noting that hospitals had offered differing explanations for why equipment remained idle.During the hearing, Delhi govt, through standing counsel Sameer Vashisht, informed the court that a dedicated toll-free helpline, 102, had been launched to help citizens access information on ICU bed availability in govt hospitals.According to the govt, operators handling ambulance-related calls on the helpline have now been given access to a real-time dashboard showing ICU bed availability across Delhi govt hospitals. A status report said 30 operators were currently manning the helpline.Observing that 30 operators appeared insufficient for a city of nearly three crore people, the bench asked authorities to assess the requirement and increase the manpower if necessary.“Presently, there are 30 lines and 30 operators for the toll-free helpline. This number is required to be increased as the total number of calls are stated to be 2,200 per day and there are 500 call drops,” the court noted.The bench said suggestions could be placed before the health secretary to improve the service. During the proceedings, a govt official tested the helpline in court and was successfully able to obtain information on ICU bed availability, the court recorded.
