The Indian Express 24.08.2013
Registration row: PMC raps nursing homes, docs protest
Dr S T Pardeshi, acting chief medical officer of PMC, said 46 of 450 registered nursing homes had not submitted the fire safety NOC and so their registration was not renewed this year. The registration of another 49 nursing homes has not been renewed for reportedly flouting rules under the BNHR Act.
Doctors with the Indian Medical Association, while protesting the move, met the health department chief on Friday, apart from listing their grievances with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on August 10 .
Dr Nitin Bhagli, member of the hospital board committee of the IMA, who met Pardeshi and other officials on Friday said that despite series of meetings with the PMC and assurances by the municipal commissioner to consider genuine grievances of doctors, the civic body had initiated legal action.
The PMC had initiated action against doctors at nursing homes for alleged medical negligence and non -registration of the centres for over a year.
Bhagli said small nursing homes and clinics in Mumbai had faced a similar problem and filed cases, following which the Supreme Court had instructed the municipal commissioner of Mumbai to look into the matter.
"We have copies of the judgment and the solution that was devised by the Mumbai local authorities to resolve the issue. Till the Pune Municipal Corporation can table a proposal to relax some of the rules before the general body, authorities should stop legal action or at least provide provisional registration to the clinics," Bhagli urged.
He said there were several five and ten bed hospitals, which had been set up around 30-40 years back and did not have original building plans.
"The formalities now required by the PMC to renew their registrations are complicated. Among them is a fire safety no objection certificate. While it is important to ensure that fire tenders are able to easily access the hospitals, some of the nursing homes are located on fourth and fifth floors and as per the directives, a wider staircase is required. Now, it is not possible to have an independent staircase for such buildings," Bhagli added.
Another rule states that every hospital should have its reserved parking lot. However, many nursing homes are situated on commercial-cum-residential buildings, where parking cannot be reserved for the hospital.
The PMC had agreed that fire safety norms were not applicable on buildings that had a completion certificate prior to 2008. There was a need to resolve the issue and give the doctors a hearing instead of slapping legal notices, IMA doctors urged.
