Questions raised over ‘exorbitant’ fee charged for blood processing
TURA: The collection of a fee from patients and donors for blood processing in the Tura civil hospital has not gone down well with the A’chik Youth Council (AYC), the organization which has accused the hospital management of ‘fleecing’ the poor patients who seek the services of the only referral medical institute in the Garo Hills.
Displaying medical fee receipts from patients for an amount of Rs 500 on account of blood processing, the organization questioned the need for such an ‘exorbitant’ fee structure for a single cross matching and blood processing.
“Patients from all corners of Garo Hills come to the Tura civil hospital for medical treatment. Many of them are from the poor and needy backgrounds and depend solely on the government run hospital for their medical treatment since they do not have the means to pay in private hospitals,” the organization said.
“On what grounds is the management authority of Tura Civil Hospital charging an exorbitant fee from every single patient who comes for their medical treatment?” questioned the organization while demanding a revoke of the same.
However, hospital sources reveal that only a charge of Rs. 250 is taken for blood processing at the blood bank centre per donor as per existing guidelines. In regards to the receipt of five hundred rupees, it was clarified that the same was charged for two donor candidates and the receipt was given in the name of the patient for whom the blood samples were processed.
