Minimum standard of facilities, services for pvt hospitals soon: TN govt

Chennai: The state government has proposed to prescribe minimum standards of facilities and services to be provided by the private clinical establishments throughout the state. A bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Act, 1997, was introduced in the Assembly on Tuesday to give effect to the decision.

The amendment which also contains penal provisions for violations, will mandate the clinical establishments to administer first aid and take other life saving or stabilising emergency measures in all medico-legal or potentially medico-legal cases such as road accidents, accidental or induced burns or poisoning or criminal assaults and the like when the victims present themselves at the clinical establishments (hospitals).

Introducing the bill, health minister Dr. C. Vijayabaskar said TN is pioneer in enacting the Private Clinical Establishment (Regulation) Act, 1997, to regulate and control private hospitals, nursing homes and other clinical establishments in the State, but the provisions of the said act were not implemented due to nor-framing of rules. The present amendment is being carried out based on the recommendation of a committee constituted in 2012.