Regulatory panel directs pvt hospital to pay up Rs 10,000

Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) instructed a private hospital in Anandapur to return Rs 10,000 which the hospital had taken from a non-Covid patient as PPE charges.

The Commission said the patient was admitted to the private hospital a few months ago as he required a surgery. A Covid test was conducted but he tested negative for the virus. Despite the patient being a non-Covid patient, the staff members of the hospital followed all the norms set for Covid patients while attending to him and charged him around Rs 10,000. The family members later lodged a complaint with the WBCERC. After going through the details, the Commission has asked the hospital to pay back the amount to the patient.

In another incident, the WBCERC has instructed a private hospital in Belghoria to return Rs 6,000 out of the total Rs 10,000 collected by the hospital as PPE charges from a Covid infected patient. The Commission has received a number of complaints from patients and their family members related to overcharges under the heads of PPE kits and sundry expenses.

A few days ago, the Commission had asked a private hospital in Dhakuria to return Rs 1,40,000 out of the total Rs 1,84,500 collected by the hospital from a patient as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sundry charges for 26 days.

The WBCERC has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on a private nursing home in Nadia's Kalyani for not properly furnishing the case history of a patient in his discharge certificate. The private nursing home has been asked to pay the amount to the Commission which would eventually be handed over to the Covid fund of the state.