Pvt nursing home asked to pay Rs 5L for not providing medical records during patient's transfer

kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Friday asked Horizon Lifeline nursing home to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of a patient, Dipti Bhattacharya as the hospital did not provide medical records and case summary when the patient was shifted to another hospital. As a result the other hospital faced difficulties in treating the patient.

The incident occurred in 2020. The patient was initially taken to a local nursing home in Barasat in North 24-Parganas and she was later shifted to Horizon Lifeline nursing home. The family members registered compliant with the WBCERC bringing allegations of misbehavior. It was alleged that the Covid report of the patient was given 7 days later.

In another incident, the WBCERC has directed the CEO of the CMRI Hospital to write a letter to Dola Ghosh who lost her husband in Covid seeking an apology. Dola's husband Aloke Ghosh, a Kolkata police person was admitted to the hospital with Covid. The patient eventually died in the hospital. The woman has alleged that the hospital misbehaved with her and they kept the dead body for long without releasing it. The Commission has also asked the hospital to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 which will go directly to the police welfare funds. The WBCERC Chairperson Justice (retired) Ashim Banerjee said that if the CEO of the hospital group refuses to write a letter of apology, the hospital will have to provide Rs 5 lakh as compensation in addition to Rs 50,000.

The WBCERC asked the National Neuroscience under Peerless Hospital to return Rs 1.14 lakh to the relatives of a patient as they charged exorbitantly. In a similar incident, the Commission has directed Medica Superspecialty Hospital to refund Rs 96,000 to a family member of a patient who was overly charged.