Karnataka makes it mandatory for pvt hospitals to display bed allocation boards

Bengaluru: Amid complaints of difficulty in getting beds for COVID-19 patients, the Karnataka government on Wednesday issued a notification making it mandatory for private hospitals to display a bed allocation display board.

“It is made mandatory that all hospitals registered under KPME (Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act) in Karnataka State should display at the reception counter, a bed allocation display board,” the notification signed by Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar said.

It said the board should display details like name of the hospital, the total number of beds (as per KPME registration), the total number of beds allocated for COVID-19 patients referred by BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), among others.

Stating that the data must corroborate with the data of the central bed allocation system of BBMP, the notification said the display board should be arranged by July 16 and non-compliance to the order will attract punishment under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act 2005 and Indian Penal Code.

Earlier, in the notification issued by the state government dated June 23, it was mandated to reserve 50 per cent of the beds in private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients referred by public health authorities.

However, some patients are finding it difficult to get beds even after the allocation has been made by the BBMP’s central allocation system and this is causing a lot of hardship to patients, according to the notification issued on Wednesday.