Only 9 hospitals out of 42 Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana empanelled hospitals in Dehradun have permanent registration under the Clinical Establishments Act

Given over-zealousness to add more hospitals into the panel of the Uttarakhand Government’s pet Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana (AAUY), the health department officials appear to be turning a blind eye on a very important aspect like whether or not the hospitals concerned are registered under Clinical Establishments Act which has been passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly and subsequently notified by the State Government in 2016.

Documents available with The Pioneer suggest that only nine hospitals out of 42 AAUY empanelled hospitals in Dehradun have permanent registration number under the Clinical Establishments Act.

To make the matter even more serious, many hospitals which have been empanelled in the dream scheme of Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat have not bothered to even apply for registration under the Clinical Establishments Act.

When a hospital applies for registration under the act, the district health department concerned provisionally registers it. For permanent registration, a team of health department conducts inspection of the hospital within one year of the provisional registration.

The permanent registration is granted only after it is ensured that the hospital is conforming to all the mandatory provisions of the act.

For registration, the clinical establishments are bound to disclose the number and qualification of the staff/doctors, nurses, technicians and others they are employing. Things like hospital infrastructure, waste disposal mechanism and basic facilities available for the patients are also checked while granting registration.

The gross anomaly on the part of the department suggests that the hospitals are being empanelled without a reality check being done about the services, manpower employed, their qualifications and infrastructure of the hospital to humour the state government. Notably, the ruling BJP is viewing the scheme as the game changer for the upcoming general election which is a few months away.

The Uttarakhand High Court in a landmark judgement in August last had directed the State Government to seal all such hospitals and clinics which are not registered under the clinical establishments act.

“If it is true it is really a serious matter. It means that the Government is giving credence to the hospitals which have not cared to register themselves under the act, something which is mandatory for them,” said a senior doctor posted in the health department.

When contacted, the chairman of the State Health Authority which is entrusted with the implementation of the scheme, DK Kotia said the issue has not come to his notice. “I will get it examined and would take appropriate action thereafter if things are found that incongruous,” he said.