New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Friday ordered an audit of all 38 Delhi govt hospitals after a plea by a Class XI student highlighted flaws of an online software system that is supposed to reflect real-time availability of ICU beds.The court ordered National Informatics Centre (NIC) to conduct a “surprise check” on all the govt hospitals and audit the working of software system/apps that are meant to provide real-time, accurate information about ICU ventilator bed availability.The court was viewing a live demonstration of the Delhi ICU Beds Saarthi app and the NextGen e-Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), a platform designed to digitise healthcare workflows.A Class XI student told a special bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora that she tried the ICU bed app — meant to be integrated with HMIS — as she wanted to admit her grandmother, who had suffered a brain haemorrhage. The app showed that two ICU beds at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital were vacant. She later learnt that the ICU beds were not available and was referred to LNJP, where repeated calls to the contact numbers provided on the platform went unanswered.Through the court-appointed amicus curiae Ashok Aggarwal, the student said that despite the app and information system claiming the availability of ICU beds, her grandmother was turned away as there was no free bed.Expressing concern, the judges verified the working of the system on the spot, as they asked the court master to call up three helpline numbers to book a bed.While one number remained busy, another had an audio advertisement running through the call and the third could not be reached.“This is an unfortunate situation that despite ICU beds showing available on the software, no beds are available.. All technology, software will fail if the mindset is not there. You can develop anything but what’s the point if the poor patient suffers,” the bench orally observed.Bringing the NIC into the picture, the high court said: “Clearly, there is disparity in the manner in which HMIS is being implemented in Delhi govt hospitals. There needs to be consistency and uniformity in the use of these softwares and also those manning helplines, so that patients are not turned away.”It ordered the officials to conduct on-spot inspections and audit of the app and the integrated software’s functionality and submit a report before the next date of hearing.The court also directed all Delhi govt hospitals to furnish details of medical equipment and machines that are at present not functioning.The high cout had asked for the live demo to assess the effectiveness of these digital initiatives after Delhi govt placed on record an affidavit claiming the NextGen e-Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) has been successfully rolled out in the 38 govt hospitals.According to the affidavit, the digital platform integrates multiple hospital services and is intended to improve patient care, hospital administration and healthcare delivery through a unified digital system.The affidavit further claimed the HMIS includes 14 operational modules and said real-time information on the availability of emergency ICU beds can be seen across its hospitals through the Delhi ICU Beds Saarthi mobile app.Govt, however, had also informed the court that the application is undergoing an upgrade.