PANJIM: From midnight, the outstation patients are being charged nominal fees to avail medical services at the government-run hospitals including the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). The non-Goan patients, as decided by the State government, are charged 20 per cent of the fee as prescribed in the Deen Dayal Swastha Seva Yojana (DDSSY) ‘C’ category hospitals. Locals will continue getting treatment free of cost.
“The government has given its nod to charge nominal prescribed fees from outstation patients and a final meeting was also held on Saturday (to give final touches on the implementation). These patients will be charged from midnight. In GMC, we have set up two counters – next to OPD and ground floor of the private ward building,” GMCH Medical Superintendent Dr S Bandekar told Herald.
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had told a press conference that the charging of fees (Phase 1) for non-Goan patients will begin from January 1, 2018 onwards. The government has also decided to charge Rs 50 per bed for non-Goan patients.
“State-run facilities, including GMCH, will charge patients from outside Goa from January 1, 2018 onwards. This would be 20 per cent of the fee as prescribed in the State’s DDSSY charged by ‘C’ category hospitals. This is Phase I and some more services will be made chargeable in the second phase. This step was taken to ensure that locals are given priority in these hospitals as State government is spending crores of rupees to maintain and upkeep these facilities,” Viswajit was quoted as saying.
Nearly 30-40 per cent patients at these hospitals arrive from outside the State, especially from Maharashtra and Karnataka. “We need to provide treatment on priority to the locals. In emergency cases patients would be given priority in these hospitals, even if the patient arrives from outside the State. Also those patients who are poor will not be charged though they are not locals,” the minister had further said.
