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.