The West Bengal Medical Council has formed two committees, each comprising five members, for north Bengal districts where residents can file complaints relating to healthcare.

Known as penal ethics committees, these will be based in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, on the outskirts of Siliguri, and in Malda Medical College and Hospital. So far, there was one such committee in Calcutta.

“Till now, people from this region had to go Calcutta to file complaints against doctors and authorities of health establishments in case of medical negligence in government or private hospitals,” said Sushanta Roy, the officer on special duty of the state health department in north Bengal.

The panel in MMCH will handle complaints from twin Dinajpurs and Malda districts, and its NBMCH counterpart the rest of the north Bengal districts.