The West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017, aimed at ensuring transparency in functioning and activities of private clinical establishments, was passed in the state assembly today.
Besides monitoring the activities of private hospitals and nursing homes, the bill, drafted by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself, also has the provision of imposing penalty on medical facilities in case of violation.
Tabling the bill in the House, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee described it as a "historic step".
On its implementation, every clinical establishment in the state will be bound to provide necessary medical treatment to victims of road accident, persons affected by sudden calamity, acid attack and rape irrespective of their ability to bear the treatment cost at the relevant time.
Private hospitals and nursing homes will not be able to delay releasing the body of patients or service recipients to their representatives due to billing or other issues, including inability to pay the treatment cost.
Clinical establishments shall, however, have the right to recover the cost and charges from the representatives of the service recipients in due course.
Every clinical establishment shall maintain a public grievance cell for lodging of complaints on treatment, improper billing, deficit service, behaviour of attending staff.
According to the bill, hospitals and nursing homes should set up proper help desk to maintain regular and proper communication with the service recipients or their representatives regarding treatment, recipient's condition, regular billing and for their proper counselling.
The decision of introducing the bill was taken by Banerjee after a meeting with authorities of top private hospitals and nursing homes last week following allegations of medical malpractices at the facilities poured in at the health department.
Barely two days later family members of a patient, Sanjay Roy, who was injured in a road accident, accused Apollo Gleneagles Hospital of medical negligence and delay in his release for failing to settle the 'over-charged' bill.
This, the family said, led to his death at a state-run hospital.
The hospital also came under severe criticism for keeping a fixed deposit certificate of the family after receiving a cheque to settle the bill.
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