Uttarakhand high court directed the state government that all the clinics should be sealed which are not registered under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.
Chief justice Rajiv Sharma and justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari on the division bench asked the state government to strictly follow the provisions of law and fix the prices of various medical tests. The court said that there should be a complete check on all the unregistered clinics and hospitals as doctors without degree or specialization were conducting surgery in these kinds of clinics and hospitals.
The court has an investigation team report that has found that 10 patients were to be operated upon by non-qualified persons who neither had MBBS degree nor any specialization for conducting surgery.
The court said in the order that the State Government couldn’t be permitted to keep the enforcement of the Act at abeyance.
On August 14, 2018, the order was passed while hearing a public interest litigation alleging a violation of various rules including performing of surgeries by unqualified people masquerading as surgeons in various hospitals in Udham Singh Nagar district but the certified copy was released later.
The bench expressing it’s shocking over operations being performed by the doctors who are not holding any prescribed medical degree remarked that the surgeries can only be performed by the duly qualified surgeon.
“The surgery is the very serious procedure and it can be performed only by the duly qualified surgeon. In a hospital, in which, there was no surgeon, ten patients were found to be admitted for surgery,” remarked the court.
Now, it’s the state government responsibility is to ensure that all the clinical establishments registered under the Act, 2010 follow the Operational Guidelines for Clinical Establishments Act as well as Clinical Establishment Act Standard for Hospital (Level 1A & 1B).
Commenting that the patients in the private hospitals should not be overcharged, that they should get the medicines at the lowest rates, diagnostic tests and other tests shall be reasonable and not exorbitant, the court ordered all the clinical establishments throughout the state to not unnecessarily ask diagnostic tests.
“Only necessary diagnostic tests are ordered to be undertaken to access the clinical condition of the patient,” the court ordered.
The court, keeping in mind welfare of patients of the state also directed that all the doctors throughout the state including government doctors and doctors serving in clinical establishments are to prescribe only generic medicines which are readily available and no patient shall be forced to buy branded medicines.
