Regulatory body asks nursing home to pay Rs 1.35 lakh for not treating patient under WB Health Scheme

kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has directed Renaissance nursing home in Teghoria to return around Rs 1.35 lakh to one Subrata Kumar Ghosh, who admitted his wife for Covid treatment on April 21 last year.

While admitting his patient, Ghosh told the nursing home that he had a card under the West Bengal Health Scheme but the nursing home authorities did not admit the patient under the health scheme. The patient had been treated as a cash patient for 12 days. Ghosh was allegedly forced by the nursing home to give a written declaration that he had no card. After 12 days of treatment the nursing home accepted the card. The nursing home authorities however denied that they had forced Ghosh to provide a written declaration. The nursing home had charged the patient with Rs 2.25 lakh. The WBCERC while hearing the case on Monday asked the nursing home to refund Rs 1.35 lakh. The Commission also reprimanded Ghosh as he provided a written declaration without informing his office about the matter. He informed his office only after the patient was discharged from the nursing home.

In another development, the WBCERC imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on Medi Dawn nursing home in East Burdwan as it had goofed up with a blood test report. One Abhilash Panja had admitted his wife Reena Panja for a surgery. The nursing home initially said that her blood group was A+ but later it was found before the operation that her blood group was B+.

The WBCERC also asked Sanjeevani Hospital in Khardah to refund Rs 28,250 to one Bijoli Das who had admitted her mother to the hospital following various comorbidity issues. The patient eventually died in the hospital. Patient's family has moved the medical council to fix accountability on the doctor as they alleged that the patient was not given proper treatment. The WBCERC found that the patient was not given a discount on medicines and consumables as per the advisories of the commission. The Commission has also directed the Woodlands Hospital to return the costs of a treatment incurred by a patient at a private hospital in Chennai after a pacemaker replacement carried out by one of Woodland's doctors led to infection. Some parts of the old pacemaker remained inside the patient's body but the doctor refused to accept the fact.