West Bengal: Don’t take Covid deposits from patients, commission tells hospital in interim order

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Wednesday prohibited Desun Hospital from taking any advance deposit from Covid patients till the disposal of a case they have started suo motu against the establishment or till further order. The regulatory panel also told the hospital—a Covid facility acquired by the state government—to deposit Rs 10 lakh for the period.
This is the biggest penalty the commission has imposed on any healthcare facility in a Covid case. The hospital has been told to pay the amount in two equal instalments within three weeks of the interim order being passed on Wednesday. “This is an interim order. Rs 5 lakh has to be deposited by coming Tuesday, while the rest should be paid within two weeks after that,” said WBCER chairman Justice (retd) Ashim Kumar Banerjee on Wednesday after the first round of hearing of the case.

The health regulatory body started a suo motu case against the hospital after the family of a patient from Tamluk had alleged that the person died while waiting in an ambulance at Desun after being shifted there from a Park Circus nursing home on testing positive for Covid last Monday. The family, which accused the hospital of demanding Rs 3 lakh as deposit, alleged doctors did not start treatment even though they had paid a portion of the advance money. WBCER took up the case suo motu last Wednesday, based on news reports.
This incident had taken place within days of the health panel capping a deposit amount that hospitals could take from patients during admission.
Before passing the interim order, the hospital was given a chance to defend itself against the allegations levelled by the Tamluk patient’s family. Rejecting the allegation that they had demanded any deposit amount, the hospital claimed its emergency beds were occupied when the patient had arrived and so the person had to wait in the ambulance for some time. The hospital also denied no medical care was given to the patient and said doctors tried to perform CPR on the patient in the ambulance. “We are not convinced by the defence the hospital authorities had put forward during the Wednesday’s hearing. But since it is a Covid hospital, serving 100s of patients, we cannot ask the hospital to shut services,” said Banerjee. Officials at Desun said they were yet to receive a copy of the interim order from WBCERC and that they would act on the order once it came to them.
It was towards the end of April that the government acquired the hospital off EM Bypass to treat Covid patients. From 60 beds initially, the number of beds there was increased to 113 by mid-July. While 80 beds are reserved for patients seeking admission through government recommendation, the rest are meant for others. The hospital’s Siliguri unit with 160 beds has also been designated as a Covid hospital.