The Delhi government’s unconventional and well-publicised decision to direct private hospitals and nursing homes to provide cashless treatment to medico-legal victims of road accidents, acid attacks and thermal burn injury is turning into a mere populist measure that looks good on paper, it is learnt.

Though the state government issued comprehensive guidelines last month to make free treatment of such victims mandatory, many hospitals and clinics refuse to implement the out-of-the-box initiative, thanks to ambiguous criteria and regulatory loopholes, first responders and non-profits active in road safety say.

“Even the police and emergency staffers are clueless about the eligibility criteria for free treatment. Some hospitals are part of the scheme, many are not. There are several loose ends that need to be tied up,” Anurag Kulshrestha, founder and president of Trax, an NGO striving to promote road safety in the country, told Pharmabiz.

The guidelines state that “there will be cashless treatment of medico-legal victims” if the incident has occurred in the National Capital Territory (NCT). The reimbursement of treatment at private hospitals is provided through Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK), a registered society constituted to offer healthcare financial assistance of up to Rs.5 lakhs to the needy. Though the victim is not required to carry any document for the purpose of verification or eligibility, except that the incident should have happened in the jurisdiction of the Delhi Police, the guidelines include eligibility criteria of domicile and income status for receiving cashless treatment.

Moreover, nursing homes which have taken prior approval of the supervising authority are exempted from the scheme. As a result, when an accident occurs, the Good Samaritans will be groping in the dark to find out who is eligible, which clinic is not listed or what type of treatment is available for free.

“As a matter of fact, such clauses would defeat the purpose of the programme. The government should ask all private hospitals and clinics to provide free treatment and then reimburse them in deserving cases. Often private nursing homes give first-aid and ask rescuers to take the accident victim to the nearest government facility,” Kulshrestha pointed out.

Healthcare institutions registered under the Delhi Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1953, cannot refuse treatment to injured or serious patients brought to them due to any reason. According to the norms, “in case a nursing home or a private hospital refuses to treat or stabilise a medico-legal victim....a notice to show cause will be issued as to why its registration should not be cancelled.”

“But in reality, none knows whom to approach or how to take up the issue with the authorities. In most cases the survivors are reluctant to lodge a complaint against a hospital which has power and resources to manipulate records,” a healthcare professional pointed out.

“I have not come across any complaint against a hospital or nursing home so far for rejecting a medico-legal victim,” Dr MC Gupta, a prominent doctor-turned-medico-legal consultant, opined.

An initiative to aid road accident victims is crucial as India’s national capital is continuously topping the charts in traffic fatalities. Statistics compiled by the research wing of the ministry of road transport and highways showed that in 2016, as many as 1,591 lives were lost in road accidents in Delhi, the highest count in the country. The capital’s vehicular population has crossed 1.05 crore and more than 94 per cent of them are private vehicles.