MARGAO
Who are these attendants or caregivers accompanying patients in the Covid hospitals? Are they relatives or simply paid caregivers provided by a well-established group of agents to fleece gullible patients and their relatives by charging exorbitant fees?
In the absence of any mechanism or capping of fees of these caregivers, unsuspecting patients find themselves at their mercy and end up paying fees ranging from Rs 5000 to Rs 7000 per day for care in the government-owned Covid hospitals.
While it’s one thing that these caregivers charge Rs 5000 per day to look after a patient, sources, however, suspect a racket wherein one caregiver reportedly looks after around 4-5 patients inside the hospital in the same or adjacent wards raking a whopping Rs 20,000 a day from the service.
Although South Goa district hospital officials say no official complaint has come to the fore pertaining to these caregivers fleecing patients and their relatives, an official, however, does not rule out such a possibility in an environment where hundreds of patients are hospitalized for Covid.
Questions are being raised why the hospital authorities have not capped the fees of these caregivers or attendants. That’s not all. A question is being raised whether the authorities have checked their antecedents before allowing them entry into the hospital, since they also pose a risk to other patients admitted to the hospital.
Sources in the know say the issue of caregivers figured prominently when the Health Secretary accompanied by senior officials descended on the South Goa district hospital on Monday.
If sources are to be believed, the Health Secretary and the officials discussed at length on the subject of caregivers charging exorbitant fees for attending to patients.
Officials say that the caregivers’ services cannot be stopped, given that there are senior citizen patients, who have no one to look after them.
However, a senior official underscored the need to cap the fees of these caregivers and clear them for the service after checking their antecedents.
