‘Present rules are draconian, will force closure of small clinics’

LUCKNOW: Some senior doctors of the state have expressed the far that if the Clinical Establishments Act is implemented in its current form, cost of treatment would go up manifold and most of the single-doctor clinics and nursing homes would have to shut down.

They worry that this will eventually affect patient care.

General secretary, Lucknow Nursing Home Association, Dr Anup Agarwal said, “We agree that there’s a need for regulation but not without our consent. The present set of rules are draconian as they will force closure of almost all the small setup healthcare centres in rural areas and will only help big private players. Many doctors will be forced to leave this profession.”

President elect of the Indian Medical Association, Dr PK Gupta enlightened – “The IMA whitepaper on Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 has brought problems that the patients will have to face once the Act is implemented. Doctors need to follow standard treatment guidelines as made by the state government.

This is against the interest of the general public as the medical profession changes every day.

The doctors need to treat the patient as per the accepted guidelines and evidencebased literature on that day. Government will never be able to update guidelines on a regular basis.”

The Act covers hospitals, maternity homes, nursing homes, dispensaries, clinics, sanatoriums and other institutions that offer services, facilities of medical treatment. Several doctors feel that singledoctor clinics and polyclinics should be left out of the ambit of the Act.

“If the doctor of a small setup is asked to get 28 no objection certificates and do all that paper work, then he will have to recover the cost from the patients. Instead of charging ` 20 per patient, the doctor will then charge ` 150 as he would have to recover his expenses. Treatment of poor patients will become difficult in such a scenario,” said a doctor.