Bhubaneswar, Dec. 8: M. Swain, orthopaedic surgeon at a private city hospital, is in a fix.

One of his patients who got his knees operated upon is about to be discharged and wants the hospital to accept the demonetised currency notes as the surgery and hospitalisation fees.

"Since the hospital has not been accepting the old notes, the patient from Jajpur is seeking an exception. I do not know whether the administration would accept his request," said Swain. He said several patients from other parts of the state, especially rural areas, are facing problems post-demonetisation.

One month after the move was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to weed out black money from the system, private hospitals have witnessed a decline in number of OPD patients.

There has also been a dip in number of regular patients who visit the private hospitals for procedures ranging from chemotherapy to physiotherapy. "Even as government hospitals were allowed to accept old notes, the private ones were not. People who do not have access to debit or credit cards are the worst sufferers as they have to rely on the government hospitals that are already overcrowded," said Parthasarathi Jena, administrative officer of a leading private hospital.

Citing the example of his hospital, Jena said the number of OPD patients had declined from more than 2,000 per day to around 800 a day.

"City-based patients often use cashless modes of payments, but the situation is not the same for those who come from other parts of the state, especially villages," he added.

According to a survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), despite higher costs, almost 76 per cent people in India prefer private hospitals for their medical needs and the number is more than 75 per cent in Bhubaneswar.

G.C. Mohanty, medicine specialist at a Patia-based hospital, said private hospitals were facing a situation where they were being asked by patients to accept cheques. "Since clearance of cheques takes a couple of days in most cases, most private hospitals do not encourage people to make payment through this mode," he said.

Mohanty said thousands of people are working with various private hospitals across the city. "If private hospitals face losses, then it is bound to affect the employees," he said.

Mohanty said that emergency admissions in private hospitals had not been affected much. "However, OPD services and routine clinical tests have taken a hit. These contribute a major chunk of the private hospitals' revenues," he added.

K.K. Agarwal, secretary general, Indian Medical Association, said the association had urged the government to allow private hospitals to accept old currency notes till December 15. He said demonetisation had not only affected private hospitals, but also the common man who does not mind spending from his pocket for quality health care. He said emergency admissions should be exempted from the note ban. Agarwal said private hospitals account for the cash they receive and these could be tracked.