Govt: No rules in place,so couldn’t act on complaints of overcharging in pvt hospitals

The state health department has told the Centre that though it has received many complaints of private hospitals and nursing homes charging exorbitant fees from patients,it “could not take any stringent action” as the amended rules of New Clinical Establishment are yet to be framed. Moreover,the tribunal to look into such complaints is yet to be set up.

The Union Health Ministry had last month sought a report from state health department on whether there is a mechanism in place in Bengal to check if private hospitals and nursing homes are charging exorbitant fees from patients. According to the state health department,there are around 1,874 such private medical establishments in Bengal,and around 1,700 of them have failed to display rate chart in their premises.