Surat Hospitals Flout Registration Rules, RTI Reveals

Surat : Even after more than eight months since the Gujarat High Court mandated the registration of all hospitals under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulations) Amendment Rules, 2024, a startling revelation has emerged from Surat. According to documents obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by social activist Darshan Naik, about 213 hospitals in Surat city and an additional 50 hospitals across the district have yet to complete their registration under the Act.

The urgency for compliance with this directive intensified following a tragic incident earlier this year, where 17 individuals suffered vision loss post-cataract surgery at a trust hospital in January. In response, the Gujarat High Court emphasized the importance of regulatory oversight to prevent such mishaps, directing the state government to ensure all hospitals, regardless of size, adhere to the registration mandate.

Barring a few reputed hospitals in Surat, majority of the hospitals are not registered under the Clinical Establishment Act, 2021. In the reply by the health department of Surat district panchayat, the hospitals are yet to be registered under the act as the software upgradation exercise is ongoing.  About 213 hospitals have applied for the registration under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulations) Amendment Rules, 2024.

Apart from Surat, there are more than 50 hospitals in the Surat district including Bardoli town, Kamrej, Kosamba, Mahuva etc. which are operating without BUC, fire safety and the Clinical Establishment Act. 

There are more than 50 hospitals in the Surat district including Bardoli town, Kamrej, Kosamba, Mahuva etc. which are operating without BUC, fire safety and the Clinical Establishment Act.  Also, even though it has been five months since the implementation of the GUJARAT CLINICAL ESTABLISHMENTS (Registration and Regulation) Act 2024, not a single hospital has been registered in Surat district as per this law. 

“Why are the officials of the administrative system including the Collector, District Development Officer, Local Mamlatdar, District Health Officer, Chief Officer of Municipal Corporation not taking action even though these hospitals are not following the government policies? Are the administration officials of Surat district waiting for any tragedy to happen in these hospitals?” asks Darshan Naik. 

According to Naik, a committee was formed by the Gujarat government to verify the facts of the security related system including fire safety and emergency services in the buildings, but even after knowing the factual report by this committee why no action is being taken against such hospitals. It is suspected that the officials of the administration of the government are not taking action despite knowing the fact of gross negligence in the hospitals of Surat district.

Hospital doctors and administrators should follow the government policies as part of their social responsibility. But it is a very serious matter that the government policies are not being followed even by the hospital administrators. The doctors of the hospital are charging hefty medical charges to the patients, but they are lagging behind when it comes to following government rules.