The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010
by
Dr. (Prof.) Mahesh Baldwa,
M.D,D.C.H, FIAP
MBA, LL.B,LL.M , Ph. D(law)
SENIOR PEDIATRICIAN & MEDICOLEGAL ADVISOR
Formerly Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at T.N. Medical College and Nair Hospital, Mumbai-400008
Ex. Asst. Professor JJ Hosp, Grant medical college
Professor, paper setter & examiner of law to postgraduate students of University Department of Law, University of Mumbai
Baldwa Hospital, Sumer Nagar,S.V. Road,
Borivali (West)Mumbai 400 092
Cell 09322990138
“Parliament had enacted the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010 which has been published in the Gazette of India on 19-8-2010 for registration and regulation of the Clinical Establishments and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Act has come into force in the four states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim and all union territories with effect from March 1, 2012. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand have adopted this Act. Delhi is planning to adopt this act. Other state governments have been requested to adopt this Act including Maharashtra. As per the Clinical Establishments (Central Government) Rules 2012, notified on May 23, 2012 under the above mentioned Act, the clinical establishments are mandated to charge the rates for each type of procedures and services within the range of rates determined by the central government from time to time in consultation with the state governments.
“Health being a state subject, it is primarily the responsibility of the state governments to regulate and monitor the functioning of clinical establishments in their respective states. Many states have their own laws to regulate private hospitals and nursing homes.
The registration of clinical establishments would help the government to build a database for hospitals, which in turn would assist in formulating the national policies on health. The hospitals and clinics would be categorized according to the facilities available with them and their database along with costs would be put on the websites.
The doctors of Jharkhand wanted to scrap the Clinical Establishment Act.
Under the purview of the Act, registration of all clinical establishments, including diagnostic centres and single-doctor clinics across all recognized systems of medicine both in the public and private sector except those run by the Defense forces is obligatory. The registering authority can impose fines for non-compliance and if a clinical establishment fails to pay the same, it would be recovered as an arrear of land revenue. It will facilitate policy formulation, resource allocation and determine standards of treatment, in addition to helping create an accurate database of such facilities available in the country.
The doctors are also angry over the National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill (NCHRH), which was passed in 2011. If it comes into effect, all councils of medical like medical council, dental council, nursing council and pharmacist council would come under its purview and the (NCHRH) will be the regulating body.
What would the CEA lead to in most of the regions of the country –
1. Healthcare which is already expensive would become more expensive.
2. Healthcare would become inaccessible to most of the Indian poor unless they live in a state which has good public healthcare.
3. Specialists would become more in demand. Their salaries would rocket sky-high
4. Most of the small nursing homes and hospitals especially mission hospitals would have to be closed down.
5. Healthcare would become an industry rather than a service.
The CEA is a good step to standardize the quality of healthcare facilities in the country, but unfortunately appears to have been made by people who have no idea about grassroots level issues. There are umpteen numbers of pre-requisites to attain before we can plan to think of implementing the CEA. Almost all of the pre-requisites require a great amount of planning and willpower to operationalize with a long term vision. Otherwise the CEA would become another of the much Indian legislation which appears rosy on paper but has no use in bringing about the necessary changes.
