The Clinical Establishment Act Registration was implemented to provide for the registration and regulation of all clinical establishments (hospitals, dispensaries, clinics etc.) in the country with a view to prescribe minimum standards of facilities and services that may be provided by them so that mandate of Article 47 of the Constitution for improvement in public health may be achieved. The Act prescribes for clinical establishment online registration which is sought after through the portal of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The non-registration of such facilities will lead to monetary penalties under the act. The health sector being a sensitive industry requires strict compliance. The Clinical Establishment Registration and following the same to a large extent ensures public health in the country.
Need of Clinical Establishment Online Registration
The Clinical Establishment Act provides for various conditions to get registration under this act and the necessity of registration ensures that the units providing health services are operating based on the safety and quality standards as set by the regulating authority. Some of the major objectives of the Clinical Establishment Registration are as follows-
- To establish digital registration of clinical establishments at the national, state and district levels.
- To prevent quackery by unqualified practitioners by introducing a mandatory registration system.
- To improve the overall quality of the healthcare system in the country.
- Establish standardisation of healthcare facilities by prescribing minimum standards of facilities and services for all categories of healthcare establishments.
- To ensure compliance with the standard treatment guidelines.
- To implement other healthcare facility compliance including stabilisation of emergency medical conditions, display of range of rates to be charged, maintenance of records etc.
Clinical Establishment Covered Under This Act
All clinical establishments across all recognized systems of medicine (allopathy, ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, homoeopathy, siddha, unani and sowa rigpa etc.) in both the public and private sectors are covered under this Act. This includes all establishments owned, controlled or managed by the Government, a trust, a corporation, a local authority and a single doctor. The major units to get clinical establishment online registration are as follows-
- Hospital
- Maternity Home
- Nursing Home
- Dispensary
- Clinic
- Sanatorium
Apart from the given establishments, the institutions providing services including the diagnosis, treatment, and care for injury, illness, deformity, abnormality, and pregnancy are also called clinical establishments. These clinical establishments need to get the Clinical Establishment Act Registration to legally operate in India. This provision for the registration of clinical establishments does not imply that the establishments are managed by the armed forces including the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.