The state government will introduce a system wherein a government hospital will be allowed to refer a patient to another hospital only if it can ensure a bed there.
“We will issue a circular in this regard to all government hospitals. They have to first stabilise the patient and can refer him or her only after ensuring there is a bed at the other facility. Otherwise, people helplessly move from one hospital to another with the patient,” a senior official in the state health department said on Wednesday.
However, several doctors attached to government medical colleges expressed doubts whether the move would be enough to address an old problem of West Bengal’s government healthcare: patients being denied access to treatment.
On Tuesday morning, Meghnath Chanda, a 24-year-old resident of Tollygunge, died at the NRS Medical College and Hospital after family members took him to three other government hospital, including two medical colleges, the previous night.
Chanda, who was suffering from a pain in the groin, was first taken to MR Bangur Superspeciality Hospital, from where he was sent home after being prescribed a painkiller.
Family members said that as the pain did not subside, they took the youth to SSKM Hospital and then to the Chittaranjan National Medical College and Hospital before finally landing up at NRS Medical College and Hospital.
They alleged that the staff at NRS did not pay any attention to the youth while he lay on a trolley writhing in pain and gasping for breath. “He was finally taken to a ward but died while family members were still completing admission formalities,” said a relative.
“The hospitals have the necessary infrastructure and personnel to treat such patients. But still patients are referred from some of the best facilities of the government. Often we have found government doctors staying away from hospitals because they are busy doing private practice,” said a health department official.
“We will ask the hospitals to first examine a patient properly and then decide doctors of which discipline should treat him or her. Now, the patient, even if admitted, is asked to go from one department to another. Doctors concerned should come to the emergency ward and do a preliminary examination,” he said.
“If there is a need to refer the patient to another hospital, that should be done only ifa bed is available there.”
An official in the health department said they had sought reports from all the hospitals where Meghnath Chanda was taken.
“The death could have been because of a pulmonary embolism, which happens when a blood clot occurs suddenly. This is common in cases of fracture. However, we are looking into the cause and circumstances of the death,” said the official.
The Telegraph has written that ensuring patients’ access to doctors at government-run hospitals has emerged as the biggest challenge in the government health-care sector.
Health officials want to address the issue but some senior doctors pointed out that such efforts might not have the desired effect in the absence of a proper system of ensuring accountability. “The authorities have to ensure that an on-duty doctor is at the hospital. There is no such system now,” said a doctor.