About 1,200 private nursing homes and clinical establishments are running illegally in the State thanks to the gross indifference of the State Health Department.
According to a reported study, out of nearly 1,500 private nursing homes and other clinical establishments in the State, as many as 1,200 have been running without valid registrations.
The Government had made a mandatory provision for registration of all private nursing homes, maternity homes, clinical laboratories and physical therapy units under the Odisha Clinical Establishment (Control and Regulation) Act.
The procedural warrants that a private clinic is registered after its credentials are verified by an empowered committee of Health Department. The clinic is also provided with a certificate for a specific duration, after which it has to apply for renewal of its certificate to the respective Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO).
A three-member taskforce committee has been formed at the district level with the Collector as its chairman and the Superintendent of Police and the CDMO as the other members. The committee is supposed to meet at regular intervals and verify the registration of private clinics and renew their certificates.
It also recommends to the Government for registration of new clinics after verifying their credentials.
Though the Act clearly states that no private health clinic would be allowed to operate if it does not have the valid registration certificates, a majority of the clinics have been operating without any registration.
The information on the website of the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) shows that not a single private clinic in the districts of Gajapati, Boudh, Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur has valid registration certificate.
And such instances are also found in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack! Of about 170 private clinics in Bhubaneswar, 128 are running with valid registration certificate while in Cuttack, 195 out of 288 clinics have no valid registrations.
The DMET authorities argue that the district health officials are in charge of registration of private health clinics and the district administration is empowered to take action against the clinics operating without valid licences.