West Bengal restricts government doctors' private practice

The West Bengal Health Department has implemented a new directive barring faculty members and doctors at government medical colleges from engaging in private practice for 72 hours starting from the day they admit a patient to a government hospital. This 48-hour restriction following admission aims to ensure continuity of care and the availability of treating faculty to oversee patients during the critical post-admission period.

In response to concerns from medical professionals regarding specialist shortages and the impact of these restrictions on their ability to practice privately, Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee announced that the state is considering recruiting specialist doctors from the private sector on a contractual basis. The government intends to fill existing vacancies in state-run medical entities first, with contractual appointments serving as a secondary measure to address remaining shortages. The state's immediate goal is to manage workloads so that no single specialist doctor is required to have two admission days within a single week.