WE APPRECIATE the decision of the Ministry of Health which has urged private clinics to receive emergency cases of patients, as well as agreeing to bear the expenses of their first day at the hospital’s emergency department — precisely, 24 hours. This decision, we believe, is not open to review.
But we feel this decision must be reviewed as most emergency cases take more than one day for treatment. In any emergency case, first the doctors try to control the critical condition of the patient, and only after that, decide what sort of treatment is to be provided for the quick and stable recovery of the patient. No doubt, some patients will need to be admitted to the intensive care unit for more than one day. Then, the question that arises is why is the patient exempt from the treatment fee for only one day, while he has to start paying for his treatment from the next day onwards.