Patients at MKCG Medical College and Hospital’s outdoor dispensaries. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Dec. 24: As soon as patients enter the government-run MKCG Medical College and Hospital here, they swarm to them. One can easily locate them in front of the blood bank, the outpatient department, gynaecology and surgery wards of the indoor and in front of the operation theatres.

They are the commission agents of various nursing homes, some unknown diagnostic centres, pathology labs and even medicine stores or simply put, touts, who at times, also defraud innocent patients or attendants. Agents of some private nursing homes at Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and even Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh also are quite active here.

Interestingly, superintendent of MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Dr. Jogendra Prasad Behera, said he was not aware of the situation. “Nobody has made any complaint to us till date. It is definitely an illegal act and if anybody is able to catch them and produce them before me, I would hand them over to the police,” he said.

There are 78 private nursing homes in Berhampur. “The presence of commission agents of various nursing homes, diagnostic centres, pathology labs and even medicine stores inside the MKCG Medical College and Hospital started two to three years ago. But now the practice has intensified,” said a hospital staff on condition of anonymity. “It is difficult to root out this problem because owners of the private nursing homes give 30 per cent commission of the total treatment cost of a particular patient to these agents straight. These agents have a nexus with some nursing staff and their operation moves smoothly,” he said, adding that about 50 per cent patients, especially in the surgery ward in the hospital are being “hijacked” by different nursing homes in the city. “The agents try to convince the patients and their attendants to leave the hospital and get admitted to a particular nursing home,” he added.

“The number of patients in the surgery ward of the MKCG Medical College and Hospital has decreased alarmingly. According to the Medical Council of India guidelines, the outpatient attendance in the surgery ward should be between 120 and 150 patients a day. But these days the number of patients has nose dived to around 35 a day. If such situation persists, the MCI may derecognise the surgery ward,” said Rasanand Mangual, head of the surgery department.

Most of the patients being admitted to our ward are either very poor or in a very critical state or involved in some police case, Mangual said.

When asked about the agents inside the medical college and hospital, Mangual didn’t rule out their presence. “Government doctors working at the medical college and hospital being allowed to practice privately may be one of the reasons that has boosted the commission agent system here,” he said.

In Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab, private practice has been banned for government doctors. But in Orissa and Bihar, private practice for government doctors is allowed, Mangual said.

Yesterday, a tout defrauded Tarini Behera, a patient. Tarini, a resident of Landei Sahi in Bhanjanagar, had come to the medical college for treating her leg, in which she experienced severe pain.

“When I entered the hospital, an unknown man asked me to go to a private nursing home. But I told him that I can’t afford treatment at a private nursing home. The man then accompanied me to the medicine ward and consulted a doctor. Then, he came along with me to a local medicine shop and asked me to give Rs 200. When I handed him over the money, he suddenly disappeared,” said the tearful woman. “I did not have any money to pay the bus fare to return home. Some generous persons collected some money and gave me,” said Tarini.