The Department of Health services, Government of Madhya Pradesh has issued the Madhya Pradesh Clinical Establishments (Registration & Regulation) Bill, 2019 (“Bill”).
The Bill seeks to repeal the existing Madhya Pradesh Upcharyagriha Tatha Rujopchar Samabandi Sthapnaye (Registrikaran Tatha Anugyapan) Adhiniyam, 1973 (“Previous Law”) and to provide for the registration and regulation of clinical establishments in the state and prescribes the minimum standards of facilities and services that the establishments must provide.
The key highlights of the Bill are given below:
- Applicability: The Bill once notified would apply to all clinical establishments except-
- clinical establishments maintained by or under the control of the State Government, Central government or local Self Government or any local authority; or
- any clinical establishment or asylum establishment or licensed under the Mental Health Act,1987; or
- the clinical establishment owned, controlled or managed by the armed forces.
A clinical establishment has been exhaustively defined to include:
- A hospital, dispensary, clinic, sanatorium or institution by whatsoever name called that offers or intends to offer services, facilities requiring diagnosis, treatment or care for illness, injury, deformity, abnormality or pregnancy in any recognised system of medicine.
- A nursing home
- A maternity home
- A dental hospital
- A critical or intensive care centre
- An establishment or place of having such standards or services as prescribed by the state government or qualifying as speciality centre
- A super speciality hospital
- A clinical laboratory
- A mobile medical unit
- A health care & wellness centre
- A physical therapy establishment or centre
- A Clinic as a place established or intended to be established as an independent entity or part of an establishment.
- Ambulance services aggregator
- A medical consultation centre
Previously the scope of clinical establishment was limited and extended only to a medical laboratory, a physiotherapy establishment, a clinic, or an establishment analogous to any of them. Thus, this Bill seeks to broaden the scope of a Clinical establishment in comparison to the Previous Law.
- 2. Registration and Renewal:Every clinical establishment in Madhya Pradesh must be duly registered under the provisions of this Act. The application for registration may be made by post or online and within 6 months from the date the new act gains force or till expiry of previous registration. The certificate of registration granted will be valid for a period of 5 years from the date of issuance and wil have to be renewed by making an application for renewal at least 30 days before the expiry date of Registration.
Under the Previous Law, all persons who intended to open, keep or carry on a nursing home or a clinical establishment had to make an application every year on or before 30th April, for the grant or renewal of registration. The Bill extends the validity of registration certificate and requires renewals to be done every 5 7years instead of every year.
- Registering Authority:The Government of Madhya Pradesh may by notification in the official gazette appoint, for the purposes of registration of clinical establishments within such district, a body to be called the District Registering Authority.
Earlier, a supervising authority existed and performed all the functions regarding registration of the clinical establishments under the Previous Law.
- Display of registration:The Original certificate of Registration shall be displayed in a conspicuous place in the clinical establishment in such a manner that it is easily visible to everyone.
Under previous law, this requirement was stipulated only for nursing homes and no other clinical establishments.
- Monitoring of records and data:The state government or the district Registering Authority may ask for records and data pertaining to occurrence of any kind of disease or any medical procedure from any clinical establishment. It shall also protect any Intellectual property rights involved in such data and records.
Under Previous Law, no such provision existed. Thus, this is a new provision which has been proposed in the bill.
- Penalty: The Bill prescribes hefty monitory penalties for contravening provisions of this law. Maximum penalty for non-compliances is prescribed as Rs. 10,00,000/-
Earlier, the Maximum penalty was Rs.10,000. This is sought to be considerably enhanced by the Bill.
- Clinical Establishments Regulatory Commission: The state government will set up the Madhya Pradesh Clinical establishments Regulatory Commission to regulate functioning of district registering authorities and to preserve the minimum standards of required in a registered clinical establishment.
This is a new Regulatory commission which had been proposed to be made in this Bill to ensure effective implementation.
Source:Department of Health Services, Madhya Pradesh
