A division bench of high court comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and Kauser Edappagath on Thursday directed Kerala government to take steps to introduce uniform tariff rate for Covid-19 treatment at private hospitals.
Expressing concern over high treatment charges in private hospitals, the bench emphasised the need for rationalising Covid-19 treatment tariff in the state.
Justice Ramachandran said “when the public is putting all their life savings (for treatment), the private hospitals can also sacrifice”.
The court expressed hope that this situation will continue only for a few months. It directed the government to take a decision on the matter on Monday.
In view of the spike in Covid cases, the court directed the government to consider taking over the unused hospital buildings for treating coronavirus patients.
It also directed the government to consider appointing sectoral magistrates for supervision of hospitals.
The court also suggested uniform charges for doctor and nurse consultation.
