Experts stress Public Private Partnership in healthcare

Robust public private partnership (PPP) in healthcare is the need of the hour to keep Mumbai healthy, say health experts.

Speaking in a debate held at the Press Club on Wednesday, Dr Suhasini Nagda, director of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, "We need to have robust contract between public and private hospitals so that Mumbaikars get affordable and quality healthcare. In our hospitals, we have been successfully following the PPP models for a long time."

Dr Nagda also spoke on the need to make private hospitals act responsible. "There are instances where the private set up doesn't have a facility like neonatal intensive care unit and they admit the patient even after knowing that there will be need for the same. This is done for monetary gains. They then ask the patient to look for NICU. This is not fair and the government should make private hospitals accountable."

Health experts also emphasised on the need to have PPP for emergency services. "For emergency cases, we need PPP to save life. There are many cases where the accident patient doesn't get timely medical attention. Stake holders should come together and find a way to have system for the same," said Dr Sanjay Nagral, head of surgery, KB Bhaba Municipal Hospital.

The other health experts who participated in the debate included Dr J Maganti, chairman of Seven Hills Hospital, Dr Ashish Tiwari, CEO of Zynovo Heart Institute and Research Centre, Ghatkopar, and Dr Suhas Pingle, secretary of the General Practitioner's Association of Greater Mumbai.