New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thursday asked the Delhi government to consider as representation a public interest litigation seeking appointment of a sufficient number of doctors at one of its multi-specialty hospitals.
"The process of appointment requires advertisement, interview and what not," said a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti as it opined that the grievances in the petition should first be looked into by the authorities.
"Decide the grievances as per law and policy as expeditiously as possible and practicable," the bench said. Delhi government counsel Satyakam said that the authorities were interviewing persons to fill up the vacancies and no patients were being returned from the hospital.
What the petition said
The petition filed by advocate Amit Sahni said that Jag Pravesh Hospital in north-east Delhi denied admission to pregnant women on account of shortage of staff specifically anaesthetists.
He said that in view of the urgency, a petition was filed before the court without first making a representation to the authorities.
The advocate referred to a newspaper report to claim that the hospital witnessed a "chaotic situation" recently "due to shortage of anaesthetists so much so that police are handling the situation between the relatives of patients and hospital staffs".
"From past one week, emergency ward of the Jag Pravesh Hospital is not being available from 4pm to 8am due to the shortage of anaesthetists in the Hospital. The pregnant women who are coming to the Hospital for delivery of their baby and need an emergency C-section are sent back to other hospitals which is putting both the mother and child's life in danger," the petition said.
The petition submitted that the facility is a "multi-specialty hospital with 200 beds offering free treatment to the people of North East Delhi".
"The shortage of anaesthetists/Specialist/Doctors has caused immense disappointment amongst the poor and financially underprivileged class," it added.
