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Ambulance service lying on sick bed
KATHMANDU, JUL 13 -
With the government lacking a monitoring mechanism to regulate ambulance services, most of the hospitals and organisations are operating the service in clear breach of existing laws and norms.
Government officials say the absence of a monitoring mechanism has not only adversely affected ambulance services but is also helping hospitals evade tax in import and use of vehicles.
The government in 2003 had introduced Ambulance Service Regulations 2003 that categorised ambulances into three different groups based on the quality of services they provide to patients.
The law states that the “A” grade ambulance must have the facility of a doctor and emergency medical system, “B” grade ambulance must be equipped with a health worker and supply of oxygen cylinder and saline whereas “C” grade must have a driver trained in first aid service and the ambulance should be equipped with oxygen cylinder and saline.
The Fiscal Act 2007 has exempted tax on one ambulance to any “organised alliance” or hospital having less than 100 beds and on two ambulances to those having a capacity more than this.
“Ambulance service is not just for taking patients to hospital. The service by trained medicos in a moving vehicle can play a vital role in saving a patient’s life,” said Dr. Kedar Narsingh KC, president of Nepal Medical Association. “Not even one percent of the ambulance sector in Nepal totes medicines or doctors.”
KC said the tax exemption facility has been grossly misused due to lack of a regulatory mechanism.
According to a research last year by National Ambulance Centre under Health Care Foundation-Nepal, 31 organisations are operating around 50 ambulances in Kathmandu Valley, of which only 18 carry oxygen cylinders while none provides medical supplies to patients.
Another study by Patan Hospital shows that only 10 percent patients arrive in the emergency wards by ambulance everyday.
Assistant Spokesperson Kavi Raj Khanal at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said that the government will soon form a monitoring and evaluation cell to ascertain the implementation of ambulance service directives. “The report on the present condition of the directive will be presented in the next fiscal year,” said Khanal.
Posted on: 2010-07-14 08:16
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