The government will soon bring a bill to establish a national authority that will work towards improving standards of healthcare provided by hospitals, private clinics and nursing homes.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday approved the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2007, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi."The proposal would provide a legislative framework for the registration and regulation of clinical establishments," he said.
"It would improve the quality of health care by prescribing minimum standards for such facilities."
The legislation will enable the government to create and "set up a national registry of clinical establishments", said the minister.
Once the regulatory authority was set up, all hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and even testing laboratories and related establishments will be required to register with it and function according to the regulations prescribed by it.
Dasmunsi, however, added that "health being a state subject, the bill could only act as a guiding principle and states may follow suit. Four states, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, have already consented to bringing a similar bill."
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