Rs 10,000 fine imposed on AMRI Salt Lake

Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on AMRI Salt Lake after it failed to provide documents in support of its claim that the hospital did not admit a West Bengal health scheme patient due to non-availability of bed reserved for the state health scheme patients. The WBCERC also directed the hospital authorities to issue a letter of regret as it had earlier claimed that the patient’s family members accused the hospital with some motive of getting some financial advantages. As the hospital failed to provide any proof in support of their claim, the commission asked the hospital to seek an apology. The hospital has to provide the amount of fine to a Ramakrishna Mission in the name of the patient.

A former professor of Bankura Sammilani Medical College Dr Debasis Bhattacharya in his complaint told the commission that he took his wife to the hospital with abdominal pain. As soon as the hospital came to know that the patient had a West Bengal health scheme card, they said that there was no bed available under this quota. The hospital authorities during the hearing told the commission that there was no bed available under the state health scheme. They have however failed to provide documents in support of their claim.

In a separate incident, the WBCERC asked Woodland’s Hospital to issue a letter of apology to a patient whose family was misinformed about the date of the patient’s release. The WBCERC has asked the Chief Medical Officer of health (CMoH) in West Burdwan to carry out a probe to ascertain if the Citizen Hospital in Durgapur has proper infrastructure. If there are lapses found the CMoH in the district may take legal action against the hospital if there are lapses.