BMC Halts Payments To Agency After Unregistered Doctor Found Working In VN Desai Hospital ICU

Mumbai: The BMC has issued a clarification regarding the appointment of a doctor in the intensive care unit (ICU) ward of VN Desai Hospital, Santacruz, who was found to be unregistered with the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC).

The civic body stated that it has suspended all payments to the contractor agency, Sai Sanjivani, and has served multiple show-cause notices following allegations that unregistered doctors were employed at the hospital.

The Free Press Journal had reported the issue in its August 5, 2025 edition.

According to the report, Dr Bharat Sawant was working in the hospital’s ICU without a valid MMC registration. The BMC clarified that the hospital had engaged Sai Sanjivani to supply trained and MMC-registered medical personnel. However, when the credentials were sent for verification in February 2025, the MMC confirmed that no such registration existed. The certificate submitted during the contract process was also declared invalid.

As a result, VN Desai Hospital stopped all financial payments to the agency in November 2024 and sought legal advice from its law department. Two show-cause notices have already been issued, with a third underway.

Civic officials assured that all due legal protocols are being followed and that any violations will be met with the strictest action.

However, health activists have raised concerns about the treatment already carried out by Dr Sawant.

“Was it not the responsibility of the hospital head to verify the credentials of doctors appointed through contractors immediately upon hiring?” one activist questioned.