KARACHI, March 18: The City District Government of Karachi will introduce bylaws in a month or so to register and regulate private hospitals and healthcare institutions and make them follow an ethical framework, said sources in the government.
A city government health department official said there was no system in force at present. The CDGK feels that its responsibilities include making bylaws for private hospitals under Section 192 of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001.
He said the high-ups wanted measures to be taken to regulate the medical centres operating at primary, secondary and tertiary levels and save people from fleecing and negligent handling of patients. He said it was strange that the government had a system of issuing trade licences even to beauticians and barbers, but had no mechanism to regulate private hospitals in the megacity.
Source privy to the draft “Regulation and Ethics for Private Hospitals/Health Institutions/Private Units and Clinics bylaws 2007” said that efforts were on not only to regulate the health practitioners and establishments in the formal sector but also to discourage quackery, control unethical medical practices, and also to curb the unethical advertisements of any product or practice/facility which was not scientifically accepted.
The proposed bylaws will pave the way for classification of private hospitals according to the services they have been providing or will provide to the patients or people coming for treatment or diagnostic purposes.
A hospital with more than 50 beds and providing outdoor and indoor services in major medical, surgical, obstetrical or any other discipline will be considered as a major general hospital, while a hospital with single care like orthopaedic, eye, cardiac care or gyne and obstetrical care will be taken as hospital having special discipline.
Under the rules, any person or group of person or company who intends to use any place for the purpose of hospital, medical institution, unit, clinics or similar purpose will be required to apply to the EDO (Health) for registration and shall also submit a block plan showing the actual area of land intended to be used and the location at which various functions, including OPD, wards, OT, etc are to be carried on.
No building for hospitals, medical institutions, health units and clinics would be required to have ample parking facility for staff and visitors, separate entrance and parking facility for emergency rooms and ambulances, waiting lounge in OPD, Emergency room and in wards, emergency exists in case of fire, sufficient number of certified fire fighting equipment in each room.
Moreover it would be ensured that any operation connected therewith was not likely to be a nuisance or health hazard to the people residing in the locality. All hospitals shall segregate their solid waste on the basis of hazardous and non-hazardous and notify their amount and nature to the EDO, added the source.
The draft bylaws also emphasised hiring of medical and paramedical staff for hospitals, medical institutions, health units and clinics on a permanent basis or temporary as visiting physicians after verification of their qualification and registration with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council or nursing council.
The word specialist or consultant shall only be used or placed according to the qualification and experience approved by the PMDC. The EDO will have the power to cancel registration and licence at any time if a hospital is suspected to be a source of communicable and contagious disease by having an employee.
