By Our Special Correspondent
Shillong: The State Government will come up with rules for running private nursing homes, informed DP Wahlang, Commissioner and Secretary, Health.
“The rules have been framed by the Department but the Cabinet has to take cognisance of them,” Wahlang informed.
He said that the Cabinet is likely to clear the rules by next month.
Following the recent case of death of a local artist-publisher, Sannjay Sharma, many questions are being raised about apparently careless circumstances and alleged behaviour of the doctors before and after his death.
A local surgeon while speaking to this correspondent said the cause of death quite evidently was internal bleeding from the surgery because the abdominal pain and progressive loss of blood pressure points to no other reason.
“They could have operated again and caught the bleeding arteries or veins. A post mortem would have confirmed this,” the surgeon said, adding that an FIR would have been the best route of redressal.
From what could be gathered the hospital administrator who was out of station and the chief medical officer had little knowledge of the visiting surgeon and his modus operandi.
Many concerned citizens feel that the hospital needs to conduct an internal enquiry and take suitable actions, which are made known to the public.
“We need to be protected from the many ‘eminent’ specialists who fly in and out of Shillong, taking bundles of money but leaving patients with inadequate follow-up care. They advertise prominently in the local papers, itself a breach of medical ethics,” said another local doctor.
Many in the city are wondering whether it is time for the Government to enter into this matter and carry out an investigation and also whether a regulatory body for private hospitals and nursing homes ought to be put in place.
Regarding a regulatory authority on all private hospitals and nursing homes, Wahlang said there is no such proposal yet because there are very few nursing homes and private hospitals in the State.
“We do not wish to strangulate these private health centres. There is need to strike a fine balance between regulating and putting together some basic rules and guidelines,” Wahlang said adding that the family members of Sannjay Sharma should have taken the FIR route.