Notices to 902 quack clinics in city

HYDERABAD: Cracking down on quacks and unauthorized hospitals, the District Medical and Health Officer of Hyderabad has issued notices to 902 private allopathic clinics and nursing homes operating without licence. The hospitals were identified through a survey conducted by 64 Urban Health Posts across the city.Of the 2,000 allopathic clinics, nursing homes and hospitals in Hyderabad, 203 are permanently registered with the DMHO and 1,403 have been given provisional registration.According to guidelines, any clinic or hospital can be registered only in name of a licensed MBBS practitioner. According to findings of the UHP survey, clinics which are operating without proper registration are run by quacks and lack trained staff and proper facilities.“Most hospitals listed for flouting rules are small clinics and nursing homes. None of the major hospitals have been found to be in the wrong as it becomes difficult for them to obtain financial loans and set up diagnostic centres in absence of authorized permission,” said Dr G Srinivasulu, DMHO. He elaborated that most clinics and nursing homes lack fire safety permits and do not follow guidelines laid down for setting up intensive care units. It may be recalled that last month Amma Hospital at Trimulgherry was closed down for irregularities in its registration. Andhra Pradesh Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association state president Dr P Visweswara Rao feels the drive is necessary to rule out unregistered medical practitioners and quacks from duping people. “The registration act was implemented three years ago but DMHO offices across the state lack manpower to check around 8,000 private hospitals. Small nursing homes which have 10 to 15 beds don’t register even though they are authentic practitioners. It is the corporate hospitals which go for registration to avail of state and central government recognition or to benefit from Arogyasri scheme. We will encourage our members to register from now on,” he explained.The procedure followed for registration of a private clinic or nursing home requires a team of doctors selected at the district level examine the infrastructure and credentials of medical staff employed by the organisation to ratify it. The clinic is issued a provisional registration of 90 days within which the evaluation for claim to permanent registration is carried out.