Tripura: Doctors’ forum opposes ban on private practice

Agartala ( The Indian View team) : A forum of doctors has written to the Agartala hospital authorities, opposing the state government’s “unilateral” move to ban private practice by the faculty members and medical officers of the health facility.

The Superspeciality Doctors’ Forum, in a letter to Agartala Government Medical College & GB Pant Hospital medical superintendent Dr Bidhan Goswami, said banning private practice will “not improve healthcare standards” unless the underlying issues, such as manpower shortages and infrastructure gaps, are addressed.

The development came after Chief Minister Manik Saha justified the move that barred the faculty members and medical officers of the state’s premier healthcare institution from private practice.

We, the superspecialist doctors of AGMC & GBPH, strongly oppose this reform/order, in its present form as stated by a government representative in the media, formulated and brought forward without adequate consultation with the stakeholders directly involved in patient care,” the doctors’ forum said.

The association also said that many of its members joined the service when no such restriction on private practice existed.