The tough stand taken by the High Court (HC) on implementation of Clinical Establishment Act has resulted in sudden spurt in fresh registrations of the clinics and hospitals in different parts of the state.

Uttarakhand HC had recently directed the State Government to close such clinics and hospitals that are not registered under the act within a month. Wary of sealing action ordered by the HC, the owners of small hospitals and clinics are now making a beeline at the offices of chief medical officer (CMO) in all districts of the State. In Dehradun district alone, applications of more than 50 clinical establishments have been submitted in less than a week.

CMO Dehradun, Dr S K Gupta said that hundreds of application forms for registration under the act have been distributed over the last few days and more than 50 applications with supporting documents have been received. On the basis of the documents, the health department issues a temporary registration number to the applicant. A permanent registration number is provided after physical survey of the clinical establishment and authentication of the staff. In Dehradun district, 22 hospitals have been given permanent registration while temporary registration is accorded to 192 clinical establishments. The process of granting permanent registration to 28 clinical establishments in the district is currently underway.

Meanwhile, Indian Medical Association (IMA), the organisation of private doctors, has decided to go on a strike from September 15 against forced imposition of the act. The secretary of the association, Dr D D Chadhury said that the association supports the act but wants certain amendments to make it practical.

The IMA wants that the Uttarakhand Government should follow the Haryana model of the act in which hospitals with less than 50 beds are exempted from the provision the Clinical Establishment Act. 

The Act

After passage of the Clinical Establishment Act in the Uttarakhand Assembly in 2013, the act was implemented in the year with an objective to monitor the functioning of the clinical establishments. Under the provisions of the act, it is compulsory for all the clinical establishments like doctor’s clinic, private hospitals, diagnostic centres, homeopathic doctors and Ayush doctors to get registered with the state council.

The act seeks to regulate all clinical establishments with a view to prescribing the minimum standards of facilities and services provided by them. Under the act, the clinical establishments should keep a record of the all the patients and disclose and display the type of services they give. These establishments are bound to disclose the number and qualification of the staff they are employing and display the rate lists clearly.