The state clinical establishment regulatory commission will hear cases in districts to encourage people living in remote areas to file complaints about malpractices by private clinical establishments, the chairperson of the commission said on Wednesday.
The commission will also set up a call centre to listen to grievances, said the chairperson, retired judge Ashim Banerjee.
So far the commission has held all its hearings in its office in Kolkata. Since the outbreak of Covid, hearings have also been held online.
The commission’s members will visit Malda on February 7 and 8 and Purulia a week later to meet officials of the district administrations and health departments, as well as representatives of private clinical establishments.
The call centre will have a toll-free phone number. “One can dial the number to report admission refusal or other problems faced by a patient or family members,” the chairperson said. “We will announce the toll-free number later.”
Banerjee said many complainants from districts find it difficult to join online hearings. Besides, a large number of residents in districts are unaware of the functioning of the commission.
As for Swasthya Sathi, Banerjee said: “The number of complaints regarding refusal to admit patients under Swasthya Sathi has reduced, but new techniques have been adopted by hospitals. The hospitals tell patients that the amount allocated under Swasthya Sathi is not enough to treat an ailment.”
“In some cases, hospitals tell patients’ families that no senior doctor will examine patients if they are admitted under the Swasthya Sathi scheme.”
The Telegraph had in October reported that the state health department had identified doctors and private healthcare institutes that were either over-charging patients or raising false bills.
In one case, a private hospital had raised a bill for a doctor of a government hospital, who was on leave and officially out of station but had apparently conducted a procedure during the period, a health department official had said.
“We want people in rural areas to know what we do. There have been instances of complainants from rural areas coming over to our Kolkata office despite receiving online meeting links from us. They finally took help from our employees to attend the online hearing sitting in our office,” Banerjee.
There are 5,500 private clinical establishments in the state, including diagnostic centres and pathological laboratories, Banerjee said.
“Of them, only 63 hospitals in Kolkata, Howrah, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas have between 100 and 150 beds. There are 10 such big hospitals in Siliguri and Durgapur. The rest are all 10-bed or 20-bed hospitals and nursing homes,” he said.
Ambulance
There is no legal provision to prevent ambulances from overcharging patients. “We are in talks with the law department to see if anything can be done,” he said.
Auto accident
An 18-year-old boy in an autorickshaw was injured after the vehicle overturned on Sundari Mohan Avenue on Tuesday.