‘Ensure pvt hospitals preserve CCTV footages for a longer period’

Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) will direct the state Health department to issue a circular to all the private hospitals in the state so that they preserve CCTV footage of the hospital for a longer period of time.

During a hearing on Friday, WBCERC came across a case where the family members of a patient who eventually died, have alleged that their patient was denied treatment in several private hospitals, including AMRI Dhakuria and KPC Medical College.

The deceased’s family members alleged that they were told that there was no ‘Swasthya Sathi’ bed in hospitals and therefore denied admission. The hospital authorities however denied the allegation.

While hearing the matter, the WBCERC felt the necessity of CCTV footage for a longer period of time. It will therefore urge the Health department to make sure that the private hospitals preserve the footage for a longer time. Currently, the private hospitals preserve footage for at most 15 days.