Government ready with Clinical Act

The state health ministry has prepared the draft of the Clinical Establishment Act that will bring private hospitals under a standard regulation. While the Act was adopted by Parliament in 2010 it has not been adopted in Maharashtra due to opposition from private hospitals.

According to officials, changes to some of the clauses of the Act that were opposed have been made and it will be passed in the Winter session of Maharashtra State assembly.

According to sources in the health ministry, following the enactment of the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act, very few states accepted and implemented the same. In Maharashtra, due to opposition from doctors and private hospitals that felt threatened by the Act the government decided to form a committee and get the opinions and views of the aggrieved and make changes to the Act before it could be adopted and implemented in the state.

In 2012, a committee of six persons with Dr Pravin Shingare as the chairman was constituted. The committee had five to six meetings wherein the views of the doctors and private hospitals were taken into consideration and changes were effected to the Act. However due to the change in the government the Act could not be implemented.

Speaking about the Act, Dr Shingare said the main idea was to get hospitals big and small in the state under one umbrella organization so that they could be properly regulated.

“Currently the state does not have any database of hospitals and nursing homes as most of them are functioning under license from Shops and Establishment Act. The new act will make it compulsory for all institutions offering medical facilities to be registered under the new Act,” said Dr Shingare.

He further added that the Act would also try to regulate the medical charges and consultancy fees that doctors could charge from patients. “A body will be constituted to look into complaints of exploitation and exorbitant fees being charged by hospitals and doctors,” he said.