Strict actions against irregularities in health sector: Health minister

Warning that strict actions would be taken against irregularities in the health sector, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Samanta Lal Sen said on Thursday.

“Private medical centres, clinics and diagnostic centres will have to abide by the government rules to run operations from now on,” he said.

“We have been noticing that some unscrupulous people are doing business with the lives of the people by opening hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres everywhere for business interests without caring about the government rules,” he added.

The minister said this in a special statement on Thursday afternoon.

Samanta said there are 1200 unregistered health centres with no skilled physicians, nurses and technicians, raising concerns over how those are running and availing patients.

He informed that they have already shut down 1000 unregistered healthcare centres in the country and efforts were underway to close the rest.

The minister said they have set a 10-point guideline for the private healthcare providing institutions while strict actions including cancellation of licences will be taken if the instructions are ignored.

Here the guidelines are mentioned below

The copy of the license of the private clinic, hospital and diagnostics must be permanently displayed in a visible place in front of the main entrance of the institution.

For all private healthcare institutions, there should be one designated responsible information officer or employee for storing and supplying all the information of that organization and his photo and mobile number should be displayed in a visible place.

Organisations that have the name diagnostic and hospital but only diagnostic or hospital licence cannot provide the services mentioned in the name in any way without having a licence.

In the case of diagnostic centre or pathological laboratory, no other examination can be done in any way except the prescribed examination in the category in which the license is obtained and according to the category, pathology or microbiology, biochemistry and radiology specialists will be appointed.

In the case of private clinics or hospitals, all the conditions should be mandatorily implemented according to the type of license and the number of beds.

All doctors engaged in hospitals or clinics and diagnostic centres must preserve copies of professional degree certificates, updated registration of BMDC and appointment letters.

In the case of a hospital or clinic, for any type of operation, surgery or procedure, the registered physician must be kept as the surgeon's assistant.

Under no circumstances can anaesthesia be provided in chambers or diagnostic centres except in licensed or registered hospitals and clinics. No operation, surgery or interventional procedure can be done without a BMDC recognised specialist anesthetist.

All private registered or licensed hospitals or clinics must comply with the Labour Room Protocol.

Operation theatres in registered or licensed hospitals or clinics must adhere to the Operation Theatre Etiquette.