The state government plans to strictly enforce norms, which have always been there but rarely implemented, to stop unregulated private practice by senior doctors in state-run hospitals “so that they are available during emergencies and avoid incidents like the death of one young mother and other three turning critical”.
The health department had earlier issued a circular asking all government doctors who were not taking the non-practising allowance and involved in private practice to seek a fresh no-objection certificate.
On Wednesday, it instructed the doctors to apply for the NOC by January 31.
“…all the teaching faculty members of West Bengal Medical Education Services and all the medical officers of West Bengal Health Services, who intend to engage themselves in private practice are instructed to apply for ‘No Objection Certificate’ for private practice to the Director of Medical Education or the Director of Health Services as the case may be, through proper channel by 31st January 2025 positively,” the Swasthya Bhavan circular on Wednesday said.
In a circular issued on January 6, the health department had asked the doctors to seek no-objection certificates and reminded them that their private practice had to be within 20km of their place of work.
“There are about 8,000 senior doctors in government hospitals. But only a handful of them have sought fresh NOCs since the issuance of the January 6 circular. Those doctors who won’t seek NOCs by January 31 will be barred from private practice,” said a senior health department official.
He said the norm to seek NOCs for private practice within 20km of the place
of posting had been diluted earlier.
“Most doctors were not following the rules of private practice. Now, we have asked the government medical colleges and other state-run hospitals for strict compliance with the norm,” said the health official.
Wednesday’s circular was issued after the state government on Monday identified “serious negligence” and violation of standard operating procedures by doctors as the “prima facie cause” for the death of a woman and serious illness of three others after childbirth at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.
Senior doctors should have been present during the C-section performed on the women but the job was left entirely to “trainee doctors”, chief secretary Manoj Pant had said.
The women gave birth between January 8 night and early on January 9.
A section of doctors at the medical college and hospital had blamed the Ringer’s lactate intravenous solution that was given to the women for the complications.
A doctors’ forum, too, has blamed the intravenous fluid.
“The intravenous fluids were procured from a company blacklisted by other governments. Many doctors and health officials in Bengal’s medical colleges and hospitals had complained about the fluids. Instead of banning these fluids, the state government is blaming doctors, which is unfortunate,” said Punyabrata Gun, joint convenor of the Joint Platform of Doctors and convenor, Abhaya Mancha.
A 13-member inquiry committee set up by the state government has said the senior doctors who were to perform the C-section were not present during the procedure.
“This is a serious offence. And one of the reasons for this is that doctors are not following standard operating procedures. The rule that private practice is only allowed within 20km of the place of work is aimed at ensuring that doctors can rush to the hospital in time during an emergency,” said a health department official.
In February 2024, the health department had issued a circular framing duty rosters for teaching doctors.
“Each faculty must render at least 42 hours (six days Monday to Saturday) per week. Each day they should work for seven hours,” the circular stated.
“One faculty of the unit, as decided by the unit-in-charge with concurrence from respective HOD, must be present within the hospital campus at night on admission day so that he/she may be consulted by on-call senior residents on patient management.”