Mamata Banerjee: Make profits, but don't ignore duty

New Delhi: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday once again hit out at private hospitals and nursing homes and said these cannot be turned into “kasaikhanas (slaughter houses).” “I don’t disagree that you have to look for money because you have invested here, but that does not mean that while trying to make profit you will turn the hospitals into slaughter houses. Hospital business is not like any other business. There should be a demarcation,” Ms Banerjee said while inaugurating the second centre of Sankara Nethralaya at Rajarhat.

She made it clear that private healthcare should not “ignore” poor patients and serve them with a smile. “Hospital means selfless service, service with a smile and sacrifice. All hospitals are not bad but all are not good as well. Some put on a goody goody face but don’t actually deliver. I don’t like them. You have to do business but at the end you have to keep in mind that you are serving the humanity,” she said.

The chief minister singled out the PG private nursing home at Burdwan without taking its name whose inflated bill had allegedly led to the death of a patient’s father. “Who has given this nursing home permission to take the name of a premier government hospital?” she questioned. The SSKM hospital is popularly known as PG hospital while the nursing home in Burdwan that has been under the scanner is also named PG  nursing home.

Ms Banerjee, who is also the health minister,  advised the hospital authorities to open fair-price medicine shops and diagnostic centres. She also suggested them to appoint a nodal officer to give patient’s grievances a patient hearing.

“Don’t consider me as an enemy. I am not against private hospitals. What has happened has happened. Let us start a new beginning... Take seven to 10 days’ time and let us start afresh,” she said.

Ms Banerjee said that the government never interferes with the internal matters of hospitals. “We want to cooperate but please ensure that the poor are treated properly in order to satisfy a certain section of the people.”  She suggested to the private hospitals to introduce budget hospital where the common people can be treated at a lesser cost. Ms Banerjee added that she has finalised the bill with amendment in Clinical Establishment Act that will be tabled in the state Legislative Assembly on March 3.

In a recent meeting with  the representatives of the private facilities, she had accused them of overcharging patients, negligence in treatment, keeping patients in ICUs and on ventilators for long periods without justification and not releasing bodies if the bills were not settled. She once again made it clear that kidney and child-trafficking rackets in either government or private hospitals.would not be tolerated.

She expressed her optimism that  Sankar Nethralaya will be able to restore the faith that people had in its Chennai unit. “This is a newborn baby. We are hopeful that it will keep up people’s faith,” she said.