Delhi High Court expresses shock after cancer equipment, ventilators found lying unused in hospitals

The Delhi High Court on August 7 expressed shock after being informed that 400 ventilators and 910 oxygen concentrators are lying unused at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital.

A Bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was informed that the ventilators and oxygen concentrators at GTB Hospital were procured or donated during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now surplus. They are part of a wider list of critical medical equipment lying idle across 26 government hospitals in the city, the Court was told.

"The situation of Guru Teg Bahadhur Hospital (GTB Hospital) is also quite shocking where there are 400 ventilators and 910 oxygen concentrators which are lying unused. According to the hospital, the same were required and donated during the COVID-19 pandemic but are now lying in the GTBH Store as they are excess in number," the Court said.

The Bench also noted that the hospital's ECG (electrocardiogram) machine is non-functional, with no other ECG machine mentioned in the report, effectively leaving the hospital without one.

The situation at Delhi State Cancer Institute was flagged as particularly serious, with a very large number equipment meant for cancer diagnosis and treatment, lying unused.

Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Ch Brahm Prakash Ayurved Charak Sansthan were also found to have almost all their equipment and machines lying unused.

The Court was hearing a suo motu case in which it routinely monitors healthcare services in the city's government hospitals.

On July 3, the Court had directed hospitals to furnish details of equipment purchased but not put to use.

The State placed a detailed list before the Court and attributed the idle equipment largely to the lack of technically qualified manpower, with some equipment also missing accessories or principal components.

"The unused equipment is also extremely critical and is to be used in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The said equipment appear to be manufactured by globally well-known companies and it is unclear as to why such equipment is being permitted to lie unused after enormous investment having been made into the same," the Court said in its order.

The Court directed the secretary of Department of Health & Family Welfare of Delhi along with the secretary of Services to hold a joint meeting with the medical superintendents/ directors of the 26 hospitals on August 17 to address manpower shortages, removal of condemned equipment, re-allocation of idle equipment between hospitals, recruitment timelines, and coordination with manufacturers for missing accessories.

Earlier a patient, Kamar Jahan was refused an ICU bed at Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash hospital despite the e-HMIS portal showing availability.

The Court was told that he has since been admitted and is receiving treatment.

On the National Informatics Centre's (NIC) surprise audit of NextGen e-HMIS across 38 hospitals, the Court directed that the findings be shared with each hospital for comments.

The Court also sought clarity from GNCTD on its proposal to use the existing CATS toll-free helpline for ICU bed and emergency enquiries, and on the role of a proposed 'Referral Coordinator' for inter-hospital referrals.

The matter will be heard next on September 18.

[Read Judgement]