Cheap Labour, Costly Outcomes: A Review on the Risks Associated with Induction of Informal Healthcare Providers in Private Healthcare Facilities Across Rural and Suburban West Bengal, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrjss.2026.v06.n01.016Keywords:
Informal healthcare providers, healthcare workplace retention, private hospitals, wage suppression, healthcare quality declineAbstract
This article critiques the rising reliance on informal healthcare providers in private hospitals across suburban and rural West Bengal, India, and its negative effects on care quality and workforce stability. Despite a surplus of formally trained professionals, many private facilities employ unlicensed practitioners or Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) to cut costs. Citing studies by Das (2016), Banerjee et al. (2016), and Mehta et al. (2024), the review links this practice to wage suppression, poor working conditions, and reduced employee retention. Informal providers, lacking adequate training, risk medication errors, misdiagnoses, and unsafe treatments, especially in rural and suburban facilities. Their overextension into roles beyond their competence undermines patient safety and operational communication. The trend also displaces qualified workers, fostering dissatisfaction, brain drain, and declining care standards. The review calls for stricter regulation, structured workforce policies, and investment in trained personnel to safeguard ethical, effective healthcare in West Bengal’s private sector.
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