Pune News : Stop-work notice issued to dialysis centre in PMC hospital

By: Pune Pulse

December 15, 2023

Pune: Following numerous complaints from the patients for mismanagement and the allegation that high-quality care is not given at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) run Kamala Nehru General Hospital, the civic body’s health department issued a stop-work notice to the organization operating the dialysis centre.

Additionally, the Lion’s Club of Pune, Mukundnagar, Charitable Trust has been requested to surrender three dialysis machines and the space designated for its services at a hospital in Mangalwar Peth.

A senior PMC official said that over 40,000 patients have been served by the Lion’s Club chapter that has been operating the aforementioned dialysis centre for the last seven years. However, they were now given a notice to cease operations and turn over the three dialysis machines to the local government because of persistent complaints made against them and their disregard for the terms and conditions under which they were awarded the contract to manage the centre. There were fifteen dialysis machines at the facility; twelve belonged to the agency and three to PMC.

On November 20, the agency was given a stop-work notice and instructed to take the necessary action within a month. Another PMC official said that they had already sent the agency two show-cause notices earlier this year in response to numerous complaints. When the PMC went there on October 4 for a site inspection, they discovered it was locked. The biomedical waste had not been disposed of for at least a year, and there was no nephrologist in attendance. Biomedical waste should be stored or disposed of properly to prevent infections in patients.

According to a senior PMC official, in order to maintain their treatment continuity, patients from this location are currently being transferred to neighbouring dialysis facilities. They have a total of 55 machines spread across seven additional centres that are scattered throughout the city. Every centre charges Rs 400 for each dialysis session; in contrast, dialysis sessions in other commercial centres range from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000.