Kolkata, Feb. 7 -- About 17 'non-practicing' doctors are under the scanner of the state Health department and a probing committee has summoned them on February 12.

It was alleged these 17 doctors on 'non-practicing' posts were practiciang in private hospitals without obtaining permission from the government. Many of these doctors are from East Midnapore and West Midnapore while some were from Nadia district.

It was learnt that these doctors were treating Swasthya Sathi patients at private hospitals without proper permission from the state health department. All these doctors have been asked to appear before the probing committee in Swasthya Bhawan with various documents. If the allegations are proved they may face punishment, sources said.

According to sources in the health department, many government hospital doctors treated patients in private health establishments under the Swasthya Sathi scheme when the junior doctors from various medical colleges across the state were carrying out agitation in connection with the RG Kar issue. The Health department has received a detailed report in this regard as to how the government doctors continued their services to Swasthya Sathi patients in private hospitals.

The government doctors need to apply for the NoC and the health department after due consideration issues it. The norms are prevailing with the Clinical Establishment Act but it was not always enforced in the state. As a result, many government doctors were not in practice if obtaining any such NoC.

Incidentally, many doctors from government hospitals who had supported the junior doctors' agitation on the RG Kar issue and continued to treat patients in private health establishments simultaneously. Following the junior doctors' agitation, the state government's spending on patient treatment under the Swasthya Sathi scheme in private hospitals had also surged significantly, as many patients opted for private facilities over government hospitals.

Sources indicate that the daily expenditure under the Swasthya Sathi scheme across Bengal had increased by over Rs 1.13 crore, compared to the Health department's

usual spending.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.