In order to standardise healthcare services, the Health ministry has proposed a set of “minimum standards of facilities and services” that has to be adhered to by clinical establishments offering allopathy and AYUSH mode of treatments for obtaining registration.
According to the “minimum standards” proposed inthe amendments for the Clinical Establishment (Central Government) Rules, 2019,health facilities not complying with prescribed norms in terms of infrastructure, manpower, equipment, drugs,support service and record registration will not be granted registration.
Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act,2010, makes registration a must for running a clinical establishment.
“At present, minimum standards are available only formedical diagnostic labs which were notified in May 21, 2018. The proposedamendments are aimed at bringing an uniformity in standard of healthcareservices provided by several establishments,” an official source said.
The draft notification on Clinical Establishment (CentralGovernment) Third Amendment Rules, 2019, have been put up on the website of theHealth Ministry and comments have been sought from stakeholders within 43 days.
According to the proposed standards, the physical facilityshall be developed and maintained to provide safe and secure environment forpatients, their families, staff and visitors and should be situated in a placehaving clean surroundings and shall comply with local by-laws in force, if any,from time to time.
There has to be a minimum space requirement for carrying outbasic functions of the facility as prescribed in the rules.
“The clinic facility shall be well illuminated,ventilated and clean with adequate water supply. It shall have a prominentboard or signage displaying the name of the clinic in local language at thegate or on the building of the clinic,” the draft amendments stated.
Besides, the name of the doctor with registration number,fee structure of various doctors or specialists, timings of clinics andservices provided within the facility should be well displayed in signages inlanguage understood by the local public in the area.
Under the category of Human Resource, the proposed standardsstate that the general practitioner or specialist doctor or super-specialistdoctors as per the scope of the clinic or polyclinic shall be registered withState or Central Medical Council of India.
“The services provided by the medical professionalsshould be in consonance with their qualification, training and registration. Ina clinic or polyclinic, minimum one support staff must be available to meet thecare treatment and service needs of the patient.
“However number may depend upon the workload and scopeof the service being provided by the clinical establishment,” the draftnotification read. These set of common minimum standardsframed are applicable to a single practitioner or more than one doctor clinicmanned by a General physician or specialist doctor or super specialist or agroup of doctors who are themselves providing patient care services likedispensing of medicines, Injection and dressing.
The Health ministry from time to time has been writing toStates and UTs to implement the Act citing alleged malpractices includingexorbitant charges, deficiency in services, not following standard treatmentprotocols, etc in health facilities, resulting not only in compromised patientsafety but also concerns about transparency and accountability in healthcarecosts.
The clinical establishments act was been enacted by theCentre to provide for registration and regulation of all clinicalestablishments in the country with a view to prescribe minimum standards offacilities and services provided by them.
The act is applicable to all types (both therapeutic anddiagnostic types) of clinical establishments in the public and private sectors.
Till now, eleven states including Arunachal Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand Mizoram, UP and Uttarakhand have adopted the act but many of them areyet to implement it.
Health being a state subject, the Centre cannot force thestates to implement it.
Under the act, standard treatment guidelines are specifiedfor 227 diseases, including dengue, chikungunya and malaria.
A technical committee is to be set up to decide on charges for treatment of diseases and procedures at clinical establishments, including private hospitals. Health facilities are supposed to display the charges for each procedure and facility to keep the patient informed in advance. PTI