Private nursing homes lure Aarogyasri patients

Hyderabad: Patients who come for Aarogyasri treatment in the orthopaedic department of Gandhi Hospital are being lured away by small private nursing homes that employ middle-men for the purpose.

Head of the orthopaedic department, Dr Ravi Babu confirms that of 15 patients who arrive every day, the next morning only five or seven are still around. The rest leave late in the evening or at night.

A senior post-graduate intern explained, “After 3 pm, most of the senior doctors are not in the wards. It is only the junior doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff who are in the hospital. We have seen a lot of hospital staff convince patients that the treatment is not up to the mark in the hospital and they must leave. Often they use fear tactics which act well on patients and most of them leave.”

Claims for orthopaedic cases are settled very easily by the Aarogyasri Health Care Trust. Medically, it is easy to prove cases and small nursing homes find it an easy way to make quick money.

The small nursing homes around Musheerabad, Malkajgiri, and Safilguda work in tandem with the hospital staff who give them inputs on the cases that arrive under Aarogyasri. Not only does this mean the hospital loses money, but it also means that post-graduate students do not have enough experience in dealing with simple fractures of the bone.

A senior doctor of the department explained, “The biggest loss is to the junior doctors who are good at treating multiple injuries or those where the bones are crushed or broken. But when it comes to simple fractures there are hardly any cases in the hospital.” The smaller hospitals avoid complicated cases, but sometimes even simple cases are botched up.

A junior doctor on condition of anonymity said, “We know that the patient is coming after wrong treatment but can’t ask them as there is a syndicate which is in operation.”

He said, “We are scared to complain because we do not know who and how many from the department or the hospital are involved. The going rate for commission is 5 to 10 per cent of the procedure. Simple fractures earn a hospital Rs 35,000 per procedure.”

The head of the department, Dr Ravi Babu said, “We have complained to the principal of Gandhi College and also the superintendent of the hospital. There is now also a senior doctor on emergency duty in the department. But there is no formal complaint either to the department or the hospital by any patient that he was lured away. If that is done, we will have the proof to nail those who are doing this.”