AGARTALA, August 5 (TIWN): Finally the state government doctors who were in tussle with the High Court opted to resume private practices just after the state health and family welfare department issued a fresh notification mentioning the conditions and the guidelines. Acting on behest of the HC’s direction the state health department on July 31 had issued a notification saying that the government doctors should not indulge in private practice but concentrate on government hospitals only. According to the fresh guidelines of the state government the doctors who apply for private practice shall have to submit details along with the prescribed application form, the doctors shall not do private practices for more than 3 hours on working days and 6 hours in holidays whereas the timings should be prominently displayed outside the private chambers. It was also directed that no doctors who opted for private clinic are permitted to sit or practice with any polyclinic, private nursing homes or laboratory.

Private practise permitted doctors shall also have to maintain the diary of patients with details of diagnosis, treatment prescribed and fees charged from each patient, every doctors shall give a receipt to every patient attended by him in his private chambers and no patient should be directed, advised or enticed from any government hospital to visit private clinic of any government doctors or charge fees from such patients, the guidelines mentioned in its notification.

However, the notification has come up just after the HC directed the state government to issue a notification to the government doctors regarding the guidelines shall have to be carried out while practicing private.

In view of this Health Minister Badal Chowdhury told reporters, “We have already formed a committee in the health and family welfare department who are currently indicted for monitoring if the guidelines are being implemented by the government doctors in their private clinics.”

“I thank the doctors who had at last resumed their private service and I also hope that the guidelines being issued by the state government would be implemented by those doctors,” Chowdhury said.

The High Court on May 29 this year has directed government doctors to restrict their private practice to a maximum of three hours daily during working days. Government doctors can charge them a maximum of Rs.200 as consultation fees. On the patient's second visit, doctors can charge upto Rs.100 and money receipt must be given to the patients, HC directed.

A large number of senior doctors, including assistant professors and associate professors of AGMC, have allegedly been doing private practice during duty hours, said a senior health official.

It was alleged that the negligence of duty on the part of senior doctors in the medical college has ruined the work culture. The emergency service of AGMC is being run by junior doctors without any supervision from the seniors.