Cuttack: While the SUM Hospital tragedy seems to have unearthed the violation of norms on safety by hospital authorities, it is startling to see that hundreds of hospitals across the state are operating by blatantly flouting the guidelines.
In Cuttack city alone, around 300 nursing homes are operating without renewing their registration, while some others are running without permission from Director Medical Education & Training (DMET).
As per DMET statistics, out of 332 nursing homes in Cuttack, only 33 are operating with a valid registration. Rest of the nursing homes are yet to renew their registration certificate following completion of their tenure. A case in point being the Shanti Memorial Hospital situated in Thoria Sahi in Cuttack. While the validity of the hospital’s registration ended in 2015, it is yet to renew its certificate.
Similarly, Jananee Hospital in Ranihat, Cuttack is operating without DMET approval.
“We had applied for approval in last week of December. We first submitted the application to the CDMO who later on put up the file to DMET. It is now in the power of DMET which has forwarded it to the collector,” Jananee nursing home manager, Manjulata Choudhary.
Regulation stipulates that a nursing home can only operate after getting a Clinical Establishment Certificate from the DMET.
“We will form a squad and check other nursing homes operating in city. Nursing homes operating without valid approvals will be served notice with a one month deadline. If they fail to obtain necessary approvals we will proceed to seal the nursing homes,” said Cuttack CDMO Prafulla Kumar Behera.
“We have asked the Health department to submit a list of nursing homes which have applied but not received the certificate, running without renewing certificates or do not have fire safety arrangements, said Cuttack Collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra.
Such blatant violations have raised questions on who will be responsible in case of a mishap. Moreover, what is even more surprising is that how the Health department is unaware of hospitals operating without DMET license.