More than two and half years have passed since the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010 was passed in Parliament, but only four of the total 28 states in the country have so far implemented the Act. The Act was brought in by the union health ministry to bring in uniformity in the healthcare delivery sector by making the registration of all clinical establishments mandatory and prescribing enhanced penalty for the defaulters.

Senior officials in the health ministry said that the Act, enacted for registration and regulation of the clinical establishments and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, has come into force in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim and all Union Territories with effect from March 1 this year. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand have also already adopted this Act, buy the Act is yet to come into force in these states.

Under this Act, the clinical establishments would be required to adhere to minimum standards of services, to be determined by the National Council of Clinical Establishments. Similarly, under the Central Rules, the establishments would be required to display the rates of the services, and  charge the rates within the range of rates, to be determined and issued by the central government from time to time, in consultation with the state governments.

Officials in the union health ministry said that since health is a state subject, it is primarily the responsibility of the state governments to adopt the Act for implementing the provisions of the Act to ensure quality services, affordable fees and check malpractices in private hospitals and nursing homes in the states. The union health ministry has asked the other state governments to adopt this Act, officials said.

As per the Act, clinical establishment would include hospitals, maternity home, nursing home, dispensary, clinics and similar facilities with beds that offer diagnosis, treatment or care for illness or injury or pregnancy in any recognised system of medicine (Allopathy, Yoga, Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Siddha and Unani). It also includes any laboratory (either established as independent entity or part of an establishment) which offers pathological, bacteriological, genetic, radiological, chemical, biological and other diagnostic or investigative services. Furthermore, the establishment can be owned by the government or department of the government, a Trust (public or private), a corporation (including a cooperative society), a local authority and a single doctor establishment.