Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday threatened to take action against private hospitals for denying admission of Abhijit Mondal, officer-in-charge (OC) of Tala police station (PS).
Miss Banerjee, while addressing an administrative meeting at the state secretariat, Nabanna, today asked Narayan Swaroop Nigam, principal secretary in charge of health department, to talk to the respective managements of the private hospitals seeking clarifications on denying admission of Mr Mondal.
On Wednesday, four private hospitals in different parts of the city had allegedly refused admission of the OC of the Tala PS when he showed discomfort in his chest and was rushed to these hospitals.
It was alleged that Mr Mondal had fallen ill after the Supreme Court (SC) summoned him in connection with the horrific incident of rape and murder of the 31-year-old woman postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctor at R G Kar Hospital on 9 August.
The hospital is situated under the Tala PS.
Aggrieved with the private hospitals the chief minister said, “I have got names of four hospitals that had denied admission of the OC who had gone there as a patient. But you (hospitals) didn’t admit him.”
“Did you take action against these hospitals?” she asked Mr Nigam, adding, “Many doctors are not doing their duty in government hospitals but they are attending patients at private healthcare units.”
Mr Nigam assured her saying, “The government is taking action against them.”
Miss Banerjee also came down heavily on private hospitals for expensive treatment costs. “They charge Rs two lakh for a cataract surgery. This is a humanitarian problem.”