Bengal medical council to verify doctors’ registrations, certificates afresh

KOLKATA: Rattled by the rising complaints of fake doctors attached with top government and private hospitals, the West Bengal Medical Council has asked each one of nearly a lakh doctors practising in the state to register afresh, renew and update his/her credentials with the autonomous body.
With at least 500 complaints pending, the council will soon issue a fresh set of norms that will not only cover doctors and medical practitioners, but all hospitals and nursing homes too. It will also start a helpline so that complaints can be lodged over phone
The council has asked all practising doctors to submit their registration numbers and certificates of MBBS and post-graduate degrees, apart from any other course they have completed. Specialists will also need to submit necessary credentials as supporting evidence. “There are cases where a doctor has not renewed his registration with us. There are also cases where the doctor might have passed away. We are trying to streamline each one of these issues,” said Nirmal Maji, the council president.
Investigating allegations of doctors practising with fake credentials, the West Bengal Medical Council has come across doctors who even run sand mining business. “In one complaint, we found that a doctor in Arambagh trained in pharmacology was writing prescriptions as a specialist in endocrinology. Surprisingly, he runs a sand mining business too. Another doctor we came across had given forged Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of UK (MRCP) credentials,” said a council member.
“Most complaints are from areas like Howrah and North and South 24-Parganas. In Kolkata, the complaints are about doctors practising in Lansdowne, Phoolbagan and Garia,” Maji said. “There are a few nursing homes who have not yet responded on doctors empanelled at their establishments despite repeated notices. A doctor at one of the city’s top private hospitals was recently arrested for his forged credentials,” another council member added.
Immediately after it received a complaint against Ajay Tewary, the council started running his number on an updated database. The result revealed nothing about Tewary’s registration number, which he claimed to have got from Assam. During investigation, it was found that Tewary, a commerce graduate, had obtained a degree in homeopathy. “When he came to our hospital two years back, we asked him to submit his credentials. We told him that he cannot be accommodated. We do not know how he mentioned his association with us on his prescription,” said a spokesperson at ILS Hospitals, Dumdum. On Sunday, Tewary was sent to CID custody for 10 days.