Nursing home in North 24-Parganas accused of cheating by producing fake bill under Swasthya Sathi
kolkata: A resident of Amdanga in North 24-Parganas has registered a complaint in the local police station accusing a nursing home of submitting a fake bill to the health department and thereby withdrawing Rs 16,000 using the Swasthya Sathi card of the victim.
The complainant also alleged that his patient was never admitted to the nursing home.
Aizul Mondal, the complainant took his wife to a nursing home at Awalsiddhi area under the same district for health check-up of his wife. The nursing home authorities asked him whether he had a Swasthya Sathi card. When he told the nursing home that he had a card the nursing home authorities asked him to submit the card. Mondal was also asked to give a thumb impression and the card was kept at the nursing home. After around 10 days when Mondal went to the nursing home for the second time, he was allegedly told that he had no money on his Swasthya sathi account and hence no treatment could be provided.
Later, Mondal contacted the district health department and came to know that the nursing home authorities allegedly withdrew Rs 16,000 for hernia operation that never happened. The victim has lodged a police complaint. A probe has been initiated.
It may be mentioned here that the state Health department has already directed various private hospitals to upload the packages of treatment for the patients who are given treatment under Swasthya Sathi scheme immediately after admission and also their discharge summary on the health department's portal after the department spotted some irregularities in the packages and bills submitted by these hospitals.