With 2 hearings in May, regulatory body sees dip in no. of grievances

Kolkata: West Bengal Clinical Establishments Regulatory Commission (WBCERC), a platform created by the Bengal government for articulating the grievances of the people against the private hospitals and also to ensure that healthcare service does not become commercial proposition, has seen a significant drop in public grievances in the recent time.

State government's efforts to ensure better service in private healthcare seemed to have yielded some results as the grievances dropped. WBCERC Chairperson Justice (retired) Ashim Kumar Banerjee said that in May the commission held only two hearings as the number of complaints has gone down notably. Earlier, the Commission had to hold around 8 hearings per month on an average basis as complaints were higher in number. Now, around 2-5 hearings are conducted in a month. The Commission has also urged four top private hospitals to organise workshops to discuss various patient-related issues to check harassment further.

The WBCERC has already cleared all the pending cases. It has also been visiting various districts to address various health issues involving private hospitals. It has already disposed more than 850 cases so far. The WBCERC has so far registered nearly 900 cases since it came into existence in February 2017.

The Commission held its first meeting at Swasthya Bhawan in March 2017. Since then it has been committed to quick disposal of public grievances against various private hospitals. The Commission has increased the number of physical and virtual hearings to resolve the maximum number of cases in minimum possible time.

It is important to mention that this is for the first time a regulatory commission has been formed by the state government to provide a platform to the people who often face various problems at the private hospitals and nursing homes during their treatment. The WBCERC had been constituted in pursuance to the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Act, 2017, by the notification of the state health department. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the constitution of the health regulatory Commission and proposed to pass a Bill in this regard in the state Assembly on February 22 in 2017.