Ministry asked to prevent corporatisation of health care

NGO wants changes in rules to protect patients’ rights and provide grievance redressal

October 21, 2013 03:43 am | Updated November 16, 2021 11:41 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan has suggested changes in the Rules of the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 (CEA) with emphasis on a patients’ rights charter and a grievance-redressal mechanism.

In a representation addressed to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry followed up with a discussion with officials, the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan also advocated inclusion of civil society representation in the District Registering Authority to prevent corporatisation of health care and promote patients’ rights.

The CE Act was passed in 2010 and the Rules drafted last year. Since health is a State subject, States can either adopt the Central Act or frame their own law by making amendments in the Central Act.

“We have handed over our list of suggestions to the Ministry and even held a discussion with the Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary on this, and we are hoping for a positive response,” JSA’s Abhaya Shukla told The Hindu .

The Maharashtra wing of JSA is already leading a campaign for the enactment of a State-specific law instead of adopting the CE Act. It is seeking regulation of charges and display of indicative rate cards at private hospitals, standard treatment guidelines to curb unnecessary investigations and multi-stakeholder participatory regulatory councils at the district level, which would include representatives of doctors, patients and civil society organisations.

The JSA wants a designated autonomous public regulatory body for all clinical establishments, differential punitive provisions for public health facilities which would preclude their closure, and preparation of minimum standards for clinical establishments at the State level after consultations with experts and stakeholders.

The CE Act, 2010, and the 2012 Rules focus on the standardisation of quality and costs of care, Standard Treatment Guidelines, minimum standards, ensuring that hospital charges are within government norms and indicative charges for major items such as medical consultations and room charges are displayed.

The existing Registration Acts in many States are mostly limited to ensuring the registration of establishments and a modicum of physical standards. These are now likely to be replaced by the CE Act.A section of private doctors led by the Indian Medical Association have opposed the attempts of the Centre and some State governments to push for a legal framework for the registration and regulation of various clinical establishments.JSA, for its part, too believes that patients’ rights are neglected in these legal documents. It has said that any regulation that does not provide substantive relief to patients runs the risk of becoming irrelevant from the ordinary people’s point of view.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.