Regulatory panel asks private hosp to refund Rs 67K to kin of patient

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) directed CMRI Hospital to return Rs 67,617 to a patient's family, who had alleged that despite having a Swasthya Sathi card, they had to pay Rs 8,67,617 to the hospital.

During the inquiry, the Commission found out that the patient didn't have a valid Swasthya Sathi card at the time of admission. But the Commission directed the private hospital to refund a token amount to the patient's family worth Rs 67,617 on a humanitarian ground as the family members of the patient — Payel Rani Manna (22) of West Midnapore — faced immense difficulty while arranging money to pay the hospital bills.

In another incident, the WBCERC directed Irish Hospital to return Rs 50,000 to the family members of patient Sandip Biswas, whose Swasthya Sathi card was also not registered during the time of admission. The hospital has agreed to refund the amount.

In another incident, Shyamal Banerjee alleged that he was taken to Fortis Hospital with abdominal pain. Being a state government employee, his name was enrolled under the West Bengal Health Service. He was given emergency treatment and later taken to the gastroenterology department. The patient was later told by the hospital that they had no bed.

The hospital had, however, told the Commission that 25 percent of beds reserved for Swasthya Sathi were filled up. The Commission has, however, imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the hospital.