Valley
Plea to end nexus between Nepali agents and hospitals in New Delhi
Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has advised the government to take action against Nepali doctors, hospitals and agents who unnecessarily refer Nepali patients to Indian hospitals for commission.Suresh Raj Neupane
Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has advised the government to take action against Nepali doctors, hospitals and agents who unnecessarily refer Nepali patients to Indian hospitals for commission.
The embassy has told the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal Medical Council, and the Department of Supply Management and Consumers’ Interest to probe this unscrupulous practice of agents unnecessarily referring Nepali patients to Indian clinics, nursing homes and hospitals and taking commissions.
The embassy took this step as a number of Nepali patients arriving in Delhi for treatment complained of excessive financial exploitation by doctors and health institutions here. Nepal’s Acting Ambassador to India Bharat Kumar Regmi said, “We have initiated this move after complaints of Nepali patients being referred to Delhi-based hospitals by agents for commission and adding financial burden on them.”
In an interview with the Post recently, a senior official from a reputed private hospital in Delhi admitted giving 15 percent commission to agents based in Kathmandu to refer a patient. The commission amount is transferred to Nepal illegally.
The Post investigation found Indian health institutions take an additional 15 to 30 percent fee from referred Nepali patients to pay agent’s commission.
Patients from all strata of society such as politicians, government officials and common people visit hospitals in Delhi for the treatment of cancer, organ transplant, liver and gastro-related diseases among others.
Nepali embassy officials met with senior officials of various hospitals in India and urged them immediately stop the financial exploitation of Nepali patients and the practice of giving commissions to agents in Nepal for referring patients.
An embassy official said, they urged senior staff of hospitals to make fees and other charges for Nepalis on a par with Indian patients.
“We have found out that Nepali patients pay exorbitant fees for their treatment because of the commission. We have told hospitals to stop this,” the embassy official said.
Nepali embassy has suggested necessary steps to be taken in coordination with various government bodies to protect the interests of Nepali citizens.
The embassy has advised Nepali citizens to get complete information about the hospital they plan to visit, treatment procedure, doctor, treatment duration, and tentative expenses from a reliable and authorised source before arriving India.
Many Nepali visiting Indian hospitals for organ transplantation face various difficulties. Brokers rip them off, and many patients have to travel back and forth between Nepal and India because they do not have proper documents.
Nepali embassy has recommended the government to make it mandatory for patients to get documents and reference letters from Foreign Ministry’s consular service office before visiting India for transplantation of kidney, liver and bone marrow.
The embassy suggested the need to put the necessary information on the websites of concerned bodies, saying a common problem Nepalis face in India is inadequate information.
The embassy has also urged the concerned bodies to scrap immediately the registration of organisations or employees working as agents on behalf of Indian hospitals and doctors.