Bengal health regulatory bill turns spotlight on guidelines for ICUs

Kolkata, March 14: Beware, a trip to the ICU may not necessarily ensure better treatment but could actually leave you high and dry in terms of money and health, warn experts ranged against unscrupulous private hospitals taking advantage of unsuspecting patients in the absence of proper guidelines for such units. Setting up and implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for ICUs (Intensive Care Units) and CCUs (Critical Care Units) would not only elevate standards of treatment in the units but also thwart disreputable hospitals from fleecing patients, say some experts, while others assert there is no need for additiol guidelines. “A patient admitted to a general bed in a hospital is charged Rs 2,500 while in the ICU at the same hospital, he or she is charged Rs 10,000. The prices vary just across the door,” M.L. Saha, Department of General Surgery, Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research/SSKM Hospital, Kolkata said. “The reason is in an ICU, a patient is entitled to certain equipment and facilities. But many establishments charge patients extra for these essentials as the patient is not aware,” he added. IANS