Calcutta Medical College Superintendent transferred amid broker syndicate allegations

Kolkata: The Superintendent-cum-Vice Principal of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital has been removed from the post and transferred to Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital following allegations of patient harassment linked to broker syndicates operating within the hospital system.

The official has now been reassigned as a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital. Before becoming the MSVP of the medical college in July 2022, he had served as a professor of pharmacology at Cooch Behar Medical College.

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According to the news reports, soon after assuming office, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari issued a stern warning against the “referral culture” in government hospitals across Bengal. During a meeting held on May 15 at SSKM Hospital with senior health department officials, superintendents, and principals of 12 medical colleges in Kolkata, Adhikari made it clear that patients must be admitted if even a minimum number of beds were available, taking into account their physical condition.

While health officials called this a "routine transfer", a source indicated more heads were set to roll, not only within the medical college administration but also in units like West Bengal Health Recruitment Board (WBHRB) and West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS). "We are expecting a reshuffling of officials, who were embroiled in controversies," said a health department source, reports Bengal Info.

As per the Millennium Post, despite the directive, allegations continued to surface that patients were being referred elsewhere from medical colleges and hospitals. Acting on those complaints, the health department on Monday removed the doctor from his post as Superintendent-cum-Vice Principal of Calcutta Medical College.

Following the latest order, Dr Shantanu Sen, a professor in the Department of General Surgery at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, has been appointed as the new Superintendent-cum-Vice Principal.

Doctor forums, such as the Joint Platform of Doctors, have written to the Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari seeking reforms, including overhauling the WBHRB and WBUHS administrations and restructuring the West Bengal Medical Council.

The latest transfer is a part of an ongoing effort by the health department to strengthen accountability.

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