52k clinical establishments not registered yet, says DMS

With more than 52,000 hospitals in the State have not registered under the National Clinical Establishments Act, the Directorate of Medical Services has urged all the clinical establishments including diagnostic centres, laboratories, clinics and hospitals to compulsorily apply for the registration by May 31 to obtain a licence for five years to operate. Failing which, these clinical establishments may face closure.

Despite the deadline nearing, the clinical establishments have not yet applied under the Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishment (Regulation) Act, according to State Health Department officials. After receiving only 18,000 registration applications within the previous deadline of March 31, the Directorate of Medical Services extended the deadline for two months.

“Even after the deadline extension, only about 23,000 applications have been received while there are nearly 75,000 clinical establishments in the State. After the deadline is over, these establishments would face closure,” said Director of Medical Services, N Rukmani.

The specially designed software created for the licensing process of the clinical establishments by Directorate of Medical Services is being operated by a trained employee at district-level to register the establishments in a centralised system.

The Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishment (Regulation) Act, for the registration and regulation of all medical establishments in the State was amended and passed in the assembly last year.

The act brought all the clinical establishments, including general private hospitals, dental hospitals, maternity hospitals, dispensaries, medical clinics, polyclinics and nursing homes under a single regulatory body to check and prescribe minimum standards for medical facilities and quality of services to be provided by the healthcare providers. The regulations also apply for hospitals for Indian Medicine, Ayush and other forms of medicines.

The establishments who have applied for licence will be inspected to check if they fulfil the workforce and infrastructure requirements by senior health officials.