Enforce RTI Act in private hospitals: CIC tells Centre, states

NEW DELHI: The CIC has told the Centre and the state governments to enforce RTI in private hospitals and ensure they provide medical records to patients on a daily basis. In a scathing order against Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, which had refused to give records of a deceased patient to his son, the transparency watchdog has directed that daily disclosure would prevent undesirable practices of altering records after damage caused to a patient.

In his 32-page order, Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu has asked Fortis to provide all records to the applicant Prabhat Kumar, whose father Kailash Prasad Singh had passed away in November 2012. The hospital’s refusal was seen by CIC as “undesirable example of defiance of private hospitals and of their indifference towards lives, health and rights of the patients from whom they fleece huge amounts of money”. CIC said right to medical records is equal in private and public hospitals.

A Fortis spokesperson said, “The order is passed today and it is too early to comment. Our lawyers need to study the same and based on their legal advice, we will take next steps.” CIC has also taken a stern view of the attitude of Delhi government’s directorate of health services, which is the regulatory authority for hospitals and the public authority where RTI had been filed by Prabhat Kumar.