Delhi HC Flags Unused Medical Equipment Across 26 Government Hospitals
The Delhi High Court has expressed serious concern over critical medical equipment lying idle across 26 Delhi government hospitals, terming the situation at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital—where 400 ventilators and 910 oxygen concentrators remain unused—as "quite shocking."
A Division Bench comprising Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora made the observations while hearing a public interest litigation plea initiated by the court regarding city healthcare facilities. The order was issued on August 7 and uploaded on August 12.
The Bench highlighted particular concern over the Delhi State Cancer Institute, where substantial amounts of expensive equipment meant for cancer diagnosis and treatment were lying unused. Explanations provided to the court cited a lack of technically qualified personnel to operate the machinery, while other units remained inoperative due to missing parts or accessories.
The judges noted that the machines appeared to be manufactured by globally reputed companies and questioned why such equipment was left unused after significant investments had been made.
At Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, authorities stated that the idle ventilators and oxygen concentrators had been donated during the COVID-19 pandemic and later became surplus. The court also observed that the hospital appeared to be functioning without an operational ECG machine. Additionally, at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurved Charak Sansthan, nearly all listed machines and equipment were found to be out of use.
To address the issue, the High Court directed the Secretaries of the Health and Family Welfare and Services departments to convene meetings with Medical Superintendents and Directors across the 26 hospitals to assess each facility individually.
The bench instructed authorities to explore remedial actions, including deploying technical manpower, condemning unserviceable equipment, reallocating spare machines to hospitals in need, filling staff vacancies, and purchasing required accessories.
The court also sought clarity on the Delhi government's proposal to use Centralised Accident & Trauma Services (CATS) toll-free infrastructure as a common helpline for ICU bed availability and emergency services. The case has been listed for further hearing on September 18.
