Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's promises made to the protesting doctors have not gone well with citizen and health activists of the city.
Slamming the new amended KPME Bill, citizen groups said that new legislation Bill has combined the District Registration and Grievance Redressal Authority headed by the deputy commissioner, with powers to look into both registration and grievances. "The composition of the DRGRA includes a representative of the same IMA which has demonstrated complete lack of accountability, responsibility and concern for patients. The Bill also does not specify who the woman representative in the authority will be. The composition of the DRGRA does not ensure a fair hearing for patients," says Vinay Sreenivasa of the Alternative Law Forum.
In a note released to the media, they stressed that the Bill does not lay out the due process to be followed by the Authority to determine what a "frivolous" complaint by a patient is, and what is not. These elements along with the Rs 10,000 fine for "frivolous" complaints will deter patients from filing complaints.
The Bill while providing for a redressal forum has created several deterrents where the odds are stacked against the patients. Given the unequal nature of power between the PME and patients, the threat of a fine for 'false' complaints will not only deter patients from filing complaints but is also likely to be abused by the well-connected private hospital lobby.
"Referring doctors to KMC will again make the patient vulnerable to an 'expert' driven forum. It is unclear if the patient will also have to approach KMC in this instance. If yes, the purpose of having a district redressal forum is diluted and will require patients and attendees from districts to travel to Bengaluru to testify before an 'expert' private doctor heavy committee, which is another deterrent.
It is also of concern that the amendments have been modified to state that patients cannot approach the courts directly and will be able to do so only after exhausting all mechanisms through the grievance redressal forum," the note read.
