Anomalies to fore in registration of diagnostic centres
KANPUR : Anomalies have come to fore in the online registration of private hospitals, nursing homes, ultrasound centres and radio diagnostic centres under the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PC-PNDT) Act.
Nursing home owners alleged that the health department had reportedly registered more than one centre in the name of single gynaecologist, sonologist and radiologist while rules bar one person from running more than two centres. Another probe by a UP government website revealed that 28 diagnostic centres in UP were registered in the name of one Kanpur-based radiologist. The case was under probe at the moment. Besides, there were five other doctors who ran six centres each in their name.
To set things right, the department asked 450 diagnostic centres to submit documents for re-verification, said officials privy to the development, adding that owners would have to furnish affidavits stating they don’t have more than two centres registered in their name.
After verification of documents by an additional CMO level officer, 450 private hospitals, nursing homes, medical institutes and radio diagnostic centres were registered online under the PC-PNDT Act, 1994, said the owner of a diagnostic centre. The process for online registration began in 2014.
“If some diagnostic centres did not fulfill the requirements or their documents were incomplete, then how were they registered at that time,” he asked.
Dr RN Singh, nodal officer for PC-PNDT, defended the process for re-verification of these centres and said a comprehensive investigation was underway into the issue at the level of director-general (medical education).
The district magistrate also wrote a letter to all the entities, asking them to furnish documents for re-verification. It was found that sonologists and gynaecologists who submitted their papers were running more than two centres in their name, in gross violation of the PC-PNDT Act.
All those running such centres were given a week to submit their papers again with an affidavit so that they could be re-verified, he said.