Pvt hospitals refuse critical patients fearing penalties

Various private hospitals in the city, including some of the most prominent ones, have become reluctant to admit patients in serious conditions, creating an enormous burden on the state run medical colleges and hospitals such as the SSKM Hospital.

SSKM Hospital, the only super-specialty hospital in Bengal run by the government, has received the largest number of critical patients who were transferred by the private hospitals in recent days citing various reasons. According to a source at the SSKM Hospital, ever since the introduction of the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017 by the state government, the hospital has seen a rise in the in-flow of critical patients by nearly 30 per cent.

As a result, it often becomes difficult for doctors in the emergency department of the hospital to treat all the patients who are brought in from various private hospitals. It is also difficult to provide beds to all the patients despite their serious ailments. Due to the lack of facilities, the patients often have to be accommodated on the floor.

A doctor at the SSKM Hospital, on the condition of anonymity, said that many of the private nursing homes were unwilling to admit critical patients to avoid any grilling by the State Health Regulatory Commission, constituted by the state government. They were giving the patient's family members various excuses for being unable to treat the patient.

A patient with cardiac arrest was brought to SSKM Hospital a few days ago after he was denied admission by a top private hospital in the city.

After the Chief Minister mandated under the new law that private hospitals and their doctors must be accountable to their patients and the government, the hospital authorities have been wary of admitting critical patients, fearing that a patient's death might lead to them facing the wrath of the government. Hence, they cited various excuses to have such patients transferred to government facilities.

The other state run medical colleges in the city including the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital and the NRS Medical College and Hospital have also registered a sharp rise in the number of critical patients being brought into their emergency wards. According to a source, these hospitals have seen an increase in the number of such patients by nearly 20 per cent.

The Bill has introduced severe penalties for private hospitals ranging from monetary compensation to proceedings under the Indian Penal Code and seizure of property — if patients suffer or die because of negligence or bad management or are forced to pay inflated bills.