INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 8
The 50th executive meeting of Kathmandu Metropolitan City held earlier this week has approved Health Institution
Registration, Renewal and Upgradation Procedure-2020, which empowers the metropolis to regulate a hospital and polyclinic with capacity of
up to 25 beds.
As per the procedure, KMC reserves the right to grant permission to register, renew and upgrade such hospitals and health
institutions operating within its jurisdiction, besides carrying out their regulation and monitoring
The metropolis said the procedure was issued by exercising the powers conferred by the Local Government Operation Act-2017.
The act allows
local levels to manage hospitals and health facilities with capacity of maximum 25 beds and we will execute our duties and responsibilities
accordingly, Ishworman Dangol, KMC spokesperson, said
Earlier, the concerned district public health office had exercised the powers with respect to registration, renewal and upgradation of
hospitals and health facilities
According to KMC, more than 1,000 health facilities have been registered inside the metropolis
It is estimated that equal number of health institutions have yet to enter into the registration process.
Approval of the procedure has
paved the way for the local government of Kathmandu to regulate government, private, community, non-governmental and cooperative health
facilities to provide quality medical services to people, Basanta Acharya, chief of Law Division at JMC, said.
The procedure incorporates
the standards of health services, code of ethics of doctors and health workers, and process of issuance and renewal of registration
It has made it mandatory for hospitals, ayurveda facilities, diagnostic centres and nursing homes to obtain licence for their establishment,
service expansion and upgradation
If any health facility is operated without obtaining a licence, KMC may shut down it by imposing the prescribed fine besides rendering the
concerned operator(s) disqualified to run any hospital or health institution in future, reads the procedure.
The licensed hospital or health
institution can provide emergency, out-patient department, inpatient department and lab and radio imaging services.
It will also be allowed
to operate pharmacy, intensive care, blood transfusion, physiotherapy, surgical and promotional and preventive services.
A version of this
article appears in e-paper on August 9, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
The post Procedure to regulate health facilities issued appeared first
