The state government has fixed the price of personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks that doctors can buy from fair price medicine shops in government hospitals.
The government has also fixed the number of masks or PPE — standard protective shield against Covid-19 — a doctor can buy at a time from a fair price medicine shop.
A PPE, inclusive of all gear, will cost between Rs 430 and Rs 460 if one buys from a fair price medicine shop. A reusable double-layered poplin mask will cost Rs 17 and a three-ply surgical disposable mask will cost Rs 4. These prices are inclusive of taxes, said a notification issued by the state health department.
Doctors can buy masks and PPE by placing a requisition on paper used for writing prescriptions or by mentioning their registration numbers.
The notification says a doctor can buy 10 PPE kits and 25 double-layered poplin masks and three-ply surgical masks at a time. But it was not clear whether a doctor will get 25 poplin and surgical masks each or together.
It was also not mentioned in the notification how frequently a doctor will be allowed to buy the safety gear.
At a meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee last week, some doctors had raised the issue that private practitioners were having to buy masks and PPE at a very high rate. Most of them are passing on the burden to patients by increasing the consultation fee.
A doctor present at the meeting said they had requested the chief minister to make available PPE and masks at a lower rate for private practitioners.
“It is good that the government has issued a notification fixing the prices. We had raised the matter at a meeting with the chief minister last week. Many doctors who run private clinics were complaining that they had to buy PPE and masks at a high rate,” said Sanjib Bandyopadhyay, a doctor at the hospital for infectious diseases in Beleghata.
The Telegraph had on Saturday reported that the state government intended to cap the price a patient admitted to a private hospital has to pay for the PPE and the number of kits for which he or she can be billed.
“It is now common knowledge that PPE kits are available within a range of Rs 300 to Rs 800. MRP tag has no consequences. Please keep it in mind while billing the patients,” retired judge Ashim Kumar Banerjee, the chairperson of the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission, had stated in a voice message posted on a closed WhatsApp group. Private hospitals are members of the group.
Samudra Basu, a doctor at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, a dedicated Covid treatment facility, said a full PPE includes a head cover, a hood, a jump suit or gown with full sleeves, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of disposable goggles and a foot cover.
