Report No. 201

(G) Transfer must be an appropriate transfer: Care during transfer, ambulance & records etc.:

For transfer, the hospital or medical practitioner must call for an ambulance and it shall be the duty of agencies running ambulances to provide the ambulance without raising any objection that it should be paid first. If no ambulance is available, the hospital or medical practitioner has to seek the help of the police to requisition any vehicle for transport. The transferring hospital or doctor must provide for medical facilities during the transport. Section 8 which deals with these aspects under the heading 'appropriate transfer' reads as follows:

"8. Appropriate transfer- A transfer to another hospital or medical practitioner shall be treated as an appropriate transfer if

(a) the transferring hospital or the medical practitioner provides medical treatment within its or his capacity which minimizes the risks to the health of the person and in the case of a pregnant woman in labour, the health of the unborn child during such transfer, and

(b) the receiving hospital or the medical practitioner has available space, qualified personnel and infrastructure for providing emergency medical treatment to the person and thereafter, in so far as the stabilization and further medical treatment are concerned, the duties cast under section 3 shall apply to the receiving hospital or the receiving medical practitioner.

(c) the transferring hospital or medical practitioner sends to the receiving hospital or receiving medical practitioner

(i) all medical records (or copies thereof), relating to the screening and the emergency medical condition of the person, which are available at the time of such transfer, including records relating to the person's medical condition, observation of signs or symptoms, preliminary diagnosis, treatment provided, results of any tests and the informed written consent, if any, and

(ii) a certificate of the hospital or medical practitioner that, based upon the information available at the time of transfer that the medical benefits reasonably expected from the provision of appropriate medical treatment at the receiving hospital outweigh the increased risks, on account of the transfer, to the person and, in case of a women under labor, to the unborn child.

(d) the transferring hospital or medical practitioner provides necessary medical facilities including life support systems and qualified personnel within the capacity of the transferring hospital or medical practitioner, to accompany the person during the period covered by transport to the receiving hospital or receiving medical practitioner.

(e) the transferring hospital or medical practitioner has informed, by telephone or otherwise, the hospital or medical practitioner to which or to whom the person is being transferred that a person in an emergent medical is being transferred and furnish the details of the person's condition,

Provided that where any ambulance or other transport vehicle is not available with the transferring hospital or medical practitioner, it or he shall call for the services of an ambulance or other transport vehicle and in case of non-availability thereof, shall seek the assistance of any police authorities having jurisdiction over the area where the transferring hospital or the clinic of the medical officer is located, for requisitioning a transport vehicle,

Provided further that when any ambulance or vehicle is called for, by such hospital or medical practitioner or by police authorities as aforesaid, the agency running the ambulance or the owner or person operating the vehicle shall not raise any objection to provide the ambulance or other vehicle on any of the grounds referred to in clauses (i) to (iv) in section 3."