Clinical Regulatory body imposes fine on 3 pvt hosps including Fortis for negligence

Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Fortis Hospital and Rs 50,000 each on All Asia Medical Institute and R Flemming Hospital after the commission found negligence on their part.

One Enakshi Mukherjee had registered a complaint with the Commission saying that her father Aloke Nath Banerjee (78), a resident of Rishra and a chronic COPD patient from Hooghly was taken to Fortis Hospital. He had also tested positive for Covid. The hospital said that they had no ICU bed and hence the patient was taken to the All Asia Medical Institute where the patient was also denied treatment. The patient was then shifted to the R Flemming Hospital where the same story was repeated. The patient's family members were told that there was no ICU bed and the patient would be kept at the general bed. The family members later took the patient to another private hospital in Ekbalpore where he was kept at the ICU. The patient however died after seven days. The incident occurred in July this year. The Commission heard the case and gave its final judgment. It told the Fortis Hospital that they should have arranged an ICU at another hospital before transferring the patient. It found some negligence on the part of other two hospitals as well.

The Commission also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the ILS Hospital in Dum Dum as it wrongly detected the blood group of a new born baby in 2016. The matter came to light when the child had undergone a surgery in 2019. The WBCERC also intervened and released a patient, a resident of Diamond Harbour from a private hospital in Mukundapur as the hospital

authorities were not releasing the patient as the family members failed to pay more than Rs 19 lakh.

The patient party had paid Rs 16 lakh. The patient was affected with Covid. He has recovered from Covid but he has many other issues as well.