GUWAHATI, Oct 8 - The State government will act tough on the health establishments found to be violating relevant rules. Meanwhile, the All Assam Non-Government Health Establishment Association has demanded that the State government amend the Assam Health Establishment Act to bring it on a par with the Central Act.
Health department sources told The Assam Tribune that the government is keen on implementing the Act and teams have been formed to carry out inspection of health establishments to ensure that all the establishments follow the Act. In the past one year or so, about 300 private health establishments were checked by teams formed by the government and district level mechanisms have also been put in place in this regard. Recently, the Jorhat Deputy Commissioner took action against a few diagnostic centres for violating the rules, while, the licence of a private nursing home was also suspended for a month following a complaint and probe against it.
Sources said the government would probe all the complaints against the nursing homes and diagnostic centres and action would be taken if the allegations are found to be true.
Meanwhile, the All Assam Non-Government Health Establishment Association has demanded that the State government amend the Act to give a level playing field to all the health establishments. Sources in the Association said it had already submitted a memorandum to the government in this regard.
The Association is of the view that there should be classification of the nursing homes as the smaller health establishments cannot afford morgues, ambulances etc., like the bigger ones. The Central Clinical Establishment Act also provides for classification of health establishments and the State government should follow suit, the Association said.
The Association said that earlier all the health establishments were required to renew their registration every five years. But now the rule has been changed and the establishments have to renew their registration every year. But even after submitting the documents, the government officials cannot carry out their part of registration on time, forcing a number of health establishments to function without proper registration for most parts of the year. Health establishments having tie-ups with other agencies, both government and non-government, have to suffer because of this problem.
On providing free treatment to people living below the poverty line, sources in the Association said it might not be feasible for all establishments to provide free treatment. Some private health establishments have received benefits from the government and they should first be asked to provide free treatment to people living below the poverty line, sources added.
