North Bengal Medical College and hospital gets Duarey Council for healthcare grievances

Siliguri: Considering the inconveniences of the North Bengal people in filing complaints, two committees for north Bengal districts where residents can file complaints relating to healthcare. The West Bengal Medical Council has formed two committees with five expert members.

These two penal ethics committees will function in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, on the outskirts of Siliguri, and in Malda Medical College and Hospital, respectively. Previously any such complaints connected to medical services had to be submitted in Kolkata, which is quite far away from North Bengal districts. The doctors of the medical college themselves nominated the committee members through a vote. 

A committee has already been formed at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) under the project named ‘Duarey Council’. The Council became functional on Tuesday and it will be addressing public grievances of people near Siliguri and its neighbouring districts. 

Dr. Sushanta Roy, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the State health department in North Bengal and vice-president of the committee told Millenium Post, “Previously, the people of North Bengal had to visit Kolkata to register complaints against private hospitals or doctors. The process was time-consuming. To ease this, a committee of the council has been formed at the NBMCH. Anyone can register their complaint here. The committee will conduct hearings on these issues."

On Tuesday, the committee held its first hearing, during which two cases were discussed. On Tuesday, 68 cases were registered from West Bengal. 20 of these cases were from North Bengal.

Anyone with legitimate supporting documentation may directly register a complaint against any nursing home or doctor. The council will later review the case and the papers. Any district's Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) is the place where people can file complaints and grievances. The council will also accept these complaints. The entire procedure will be digitized gradually. After then, online complaints can be filed. In this respect, a meeting will be convened on March 16 at the Medical College's facilities.