Unlock: After nearly five months, free of cost boarding facility at hotels for nurses & docs to be withdrawn

Kolkata: State Health department will no longer bear the cost for accommodating doctors and nurses in hotels as there are enough transport facilities.

The health department introduced a number of facilities after lockdown was imposed following the Covid outbreak. To ensure that health services are not hampered, the department arranged accommodation for the doctors and nurses near their workplaces so that those staying far away from the hospitals do not face any difficulties. State government had to bear a huge cost for the purpose.

As various transport facilities are already available, the health department has issued notification to withdraw the accommodation facilities for the doctors and nurses at free of costs. The decision will be implemented from the current week.

"There is no need to run free hotel and boarding facilities for the doctors, nurses and other health workers. We have extended the facilities at free of costs for more than five months. Now, public transportations are available even the train services have resumed," a senior health official said.

Health department also operated vehicles in various places including the districts to ferry the doctors, nurses and other health workers from their residence to the workplaces during the lockdown. In various cases the hostels of various hospitals were utilized for accommodating those who were performing Covid duty. Where there was none, the health department rented hotels, guesthouses to accommodate the front line health workers who had provided emergency services to the patients during the lockdown period.

There were also instances where the doctors and nurses stayed at these hostels away from home for many days at a stretch as they had no transport facilities available.