Ker to bring bill to regularise pvt hospitals,labs' operations

Kerala government will soon bring in a bill to regulate private hospitals and medical laboratories in the state.
Titled 'Kerala Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Bill 2017', the new bill would be presented in the state assembly soon, state Health Minister K K Shylaja told the House in a written reply today.
The minister said at present there are no proper mechanism to regularise operations of such private establishments in the state.
"The new bill is drafted envisaging regularisation of operations of private hospitals, laboratories, scanning centres and such establishments through adequate law," she said.
Steps are on to introduce the bill in the assembly, the minister added.

On the revenue received by government from private hospitals, Shylaja said Rs 3000 is charged as fee to issue pharmacy license and to renew it at intervals of five years.

Private hospitals should pay Rs 7500 to issue and renew the license of blood banks.
An amount of Rs 1000 each should be paid as fees to issue blood storage license and to get 'essentiality certificate' for narcotic drugs, the minister said in her reply.
There were media reports that a large number of private medical laboratories in the state were functioning without proper accreditation or certification and qualified staff.

With the enacting of the bill, the government could regulate such labs and introduce a proper system to regularise its operations, health department sources said.