The state clinical establishment regulatory commission on Friday asked BM Birla Heart Research Centre and Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) to pay Rs 2 lakh each to the families of two patients who acquired infections while in hospital.

Both patients, who were admitted for other illnesses, passed away, said retired judge Ashim Banerjee, the chairperson of the commission.

A 58-year-old man was admitted to BM Birla Heart Research Centre in September 2019 to undergo a surgical procedure. The surgery was conducted but he acquired an infection at the hospital. Banerjee said the man did not have the infection when he was admitted.

“We examined the medical records and found that he had acquired the infection while he was admitted there. Since this happened inside the hospital, we asked the hospital to pay the family Rs 2 lakh as compensation,” said Banerjee.

A similar complaint was lodged against RTIICS by the family of a 67-year-old man who was admitted with neurological ailments but developed pneumonia in the hospital, said Banerjee.

“We asked RTIICS to pay Rs 2 lakh to the man’s family because the patient got infected with pneumonia after he was admitted in the hospital. The patient died eventually,” said Banerjee.

KPC Medical College was asked to pay Rs 1 lakh to the family of man who developed bedsores while in hospital.

The commission also asked Institute of Neurosciences to pay Rs 1 lakh to the family of an 80-year-old man who was not allowed to be taken into the hospital from the ambulance in the early days of the pandemic because doctors who examined him said he had no neurological ailments.

“The man’s family said that doctors said he had cardiac ailments and since the hospital was a place for neurological treatment, they cannot admit the patient,” Banerjee. “We told the hospital that it was not possible for the family to know if it was a cardiac ailment or neurological ailment. When the man was taken to the hospital it was their responsibility to give primary and arrange to shift the man to a hospital that would treat cardiac ailment.”

The commission asked the hospital to pay Rs 1 lakh to the family as it did not find the hospital’s conduct proper.

Lila Hospital in Berhampore was asked to pay the family of a woman Rs 3 lakh. The woman died after giving birth to a child. Banerjee said that though the woman had developed complications post-surgery, the hospital had failed to notice that and take appropriate steps.