The ambulance at the Hemtabad health centre

Raiganj, Dec. 10: Seven employees of the Hemtabad block primary health centre had gone to attend a wedding in Balurghat on a “bus” and not in an ambulance as alleged, the block medical officer of health has said in a report.

The chief medical officer of health of North Dinajpur, Parthasarathi Bhattacharya, however, has refused to buy the arguments in the report.

He had sought an explanation from the BMOH, Himangshu Mahato, yesterday after news spread that the seven employees had used an ambulance to attend the wedding of one of their colleagues in Balurghat on Wednesday.

The BMOH said he had talked to all concerned, including the driver of the ambulance, to find out what had happened on that day after receiving a directive from the CMOH.

“During investigation, I learnt that Purnima Pramanik, a resident of Balurghat, had come to the Hemtabad BPHC with severe breathing problems on Wednesday afternoon. The doctor had referred her to the district hospital at Raiganj. But her relatives had insisted on taking her to the Balurghat district hospital instead of Raiganj,” Mahato said.

According to Mahato, the seven employees had come to know that the ambulance was taking the patient to Balurghat. “Once they reached there by bus, the seven got in touch with the driver over the mobile phone. The driver went there after dropping the patient at the Balurghat hospital and brought them back to Hemtabad after dinner,” the BMOH said in his report.

The CMOH said he was not convinced why a serious patient would be referred to Balurghat instead of the nearest district hospital at Raiganj. “The BMOH’s claim does not tally with what the driver had already said (of taking all the seven from Hemtabad in the ambulance),” Bhattacharya said.

The district health chief said he would serve show-cause notices to all the seven employees by Monday. “Action will be taken after I receive their replies.”