Delhi High Court Flags Idle Critical Equipment in 26 Government Hospitals
The Delhi High Court has expressed serious concern over a list submitted by the Delhi government showing that a large number of critical medical equipment is lying unused across 26 government hospitals in the city.
A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora made the observations while hearing a public interest litigation plea concerning healthcare facilities. The order was passed on August 7 and uploaded on the official website on August 12.
The Bench described the situation at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where 400 ventilators and 910 oxygen concentrators are lying unused, as “quite shocking”. It also noted that the hospital’s ECG machine was non-functional, observing: “Hence, the hospital, in all likelihood, is functioning without an ECG machine, which is an extremely important piece of equipment for a healthcare institution.”
The court was particularly concerned about the Delhi State Cancer Institute, where a substantial amount of expensive equipment is lying unused. The explanation offered in several cases was the absence of technically qualified manpower, while some equipment could not be operated because certain parts or accessories were missing.
“The unused equipment is also extremely critical and is to be used in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The said equipment appear to be manufactured by globally well-known companies and it is unclear as to why such equipment is being permitted to lie unused after enormous investment having been made into the same,” the Bench remarked.
According to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, the equipment had been required and donated during the COVID-19 pandemic but subsequently became excess. At Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurved Charak Sansthan, the court noted that almost all equipment and machines listed in the report were lying unused.
The court directed the Secretaries of the Health and Family Welfare, and Services departments to hold meetings with the Medical Superintendents and Directors of the 26 hospitals to “examine the issue hospital-wise”. The authorities have been asked to consider providing technical manpower, removing condemned equipment, reallocating unused equipment to hospitals where it is required, filling vacancies, and procuring missing accessories or principal equipment.
The court also sought greater clarity on the proposed common helpline for emergency services and ICU bed enquiries. The Delhi government informed the court that it had approved the existing toll-free infrastructure of the Centralised Accident & Trauma Services (CATS) as a common helpline for emergency services, ICU bed availability and hospital speciality information. However, the court noted that it was unclear which CATS number would be used and whether the operators would have access to the relevant ICU and speciality information.
The court had earlier directed surprise audits across 38 Delhi government hospitals after a 70-year-old woman was allegedly denied an ICU bed at LNJP Hospital despite the government’s online portal showing ICU beds were available. The case is scheduled for further hearing on September 18.
