Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoorsamity ... vs State Of West Bengal & Anr on 6 May, 1996 C. The attending medical officer shall write his full name clearly and put his signature in the treatment document; D. The Superintendent of the hospital shall keep all such records in safe custody; E. A copy of the ticket issued to the patient should be maintained or the relevant data in this regard should be noted in an appropriate record for future guidance. It is appreciated that Hospital Superintendent/Medical Officers-in-charge may have difficulty in implementing these guidelines due to various constraints at the ground level and, as such, feed back is vital to enable Government to refine and modify the order as will ensure a valid working plan to regulate admission on a just basis. Detailed comments and, therefore, requested with constructive suggestions." Shri Muralidhar, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners, and Shri Rajeev Dhavan, the learned senior counsel appearing for the intervenors, in the course of their submissions, have, however, made certain further suggestions in this regard. Shri Dhavan has submitted that in order to have proper and adequate emergency health services and to create infra-structure for that purpose it is necessary to bear in mind the high risk occasions such as festivals and high risk seasons when there is a greater need for such services. It has also been submitted that the medical facilities available at the Primary Health Centres should be upgraded and the hospitals at the district level should be suitably provided to deal with serious cases and that the number of beds in the hospitals should be increased to meet the growing needs of the population. Shri Dhavan has also suggested that a centralized ambulance service may be created for all the hospitals and that the ambulance should have all the facilities necessary for giving primary medical aid and treatment to the patient. Shri Dhavan has submitted that the emergency units at the hospital should be fully equipped to manage all the emergency cases and the medical officer should be available there round the clock. Shri Dhavan has urged that the denial of treatment to a patient should be specifically made a cognizable Offence and further it should also be made actionable as a tort. In this context Shri Dhavan has invited our attention to the recent developments that have taken place in this field in the United States. There it was found that private hospitals were turning away uninsured indigent persons in need of urgent medical care and these patients were often transferred to, or dumped on public hospitals and the resulting delay or denial of treatment had sometimes disastrous consequences. To meet this situation the U.S.Congress has enacted the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 [for short 'COBRA'] to prevent this practice of dumping of patients by private hospitals. By the said Act all hospitals that receive medicare benefits and maintain emergency rooms are required to perform two tasks before they may transfer or discharge any individual; (i) the hospital must perform a medical screening examination of all prospective patients, regardless of their ability to pay; (ii) if the hospital determines that a patient suffers from an emergency condition. the law requires the hospital to stabilized that condition and the hospital cannot transfer or discharge an unstabilized patient unless the transfer or discharge an appropriate as defined by the statute. Provision is made for imposing penalties against hospitals or physicians that negligently Indian Kanoon - http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1743022/ 8