Private player hampering treatment at KGMU?

LUCKNOW: Across India, Ayushman Bharat is seen as a scheme that resolves financial crisis coming in way of treatment but at the KGMU a new experiment for payment has brought trouble for patients.

Instead of making direct payment to suppliers against the implants purchased for surgeries King George’s Medical University (KGMU) has brought private medical store, between KGMU and the suppliers. As a result of this experiment the payment is delayed to suppliers who are in turn delaying the supply of implants and the worst effected are those patients coming to the orthopedic department.

As per the process adopted by the KGMU, order for the implants is placed with the supplier via the private store. Despite, the suppliers give the implants to the departments directly. The suppliers then place the bills and the university releases payment, usually without any delay.

The payment but does not goes to the suppliers and instead to the private medical store on the campus. The store then gives the payment to suppliers. But instead of giving the payment immediately the store delays it for months.

One of the suppliers said, “We have been asking the medical university since long to eliminate a private player but there seems no one on the campus who can take a decision. The authorities here have simply been holding meetings”.

This unwarranted delay is causing suppliers to delay further supply. The suppliers have given several representations to the university stating when the university purchases the implants they be given the payment directly and not via a middleman. But their applications have landed nowhere to implementation.

The officials denied delay in treatment and claimed said the issue would soon be resolved. The but the question is when the medical university has its own welfare society and hospital revolving fund that supply medicine to the patients, why a private medical store is involved for the purchase of implants?