IMA Maharashtra expresses concern over Bombay Nursing Home Act

Mumbai: The doctors of the Maharastra Chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have recently urged the authorities to make some necessary changes to the Bombay Nursing Home (BNH) Act and Clinical Establishment Act to ensure affordable and accessible healthcare for the public.

The association told them that certain provisions of the BHN Act are not feasible. IMA stated that the provision of the mandatory certification of nursing staff should be changed as many nursing staff with 10 years of experience but no certification will face extreme difficulty to find jobs. Moreover, the association requested to change the bed registration fee to Rs 1000 for 5 beds per year. 

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Dr Shivkumar Utture, an IMA member told Medical Dialogues, " Some of the provisions of the Clinical Establishment Act are not in the best interests of patients. We explained the difference between CEA and amended BNH. The CEA draft committee’s 2018 conclusions have been forwarded to the government and there will be further discussions regarding it."

"We also talked about the issue of the registration of the Daycare centres. It would be problematic if each Day care centre had to follow the same rules as other nursing homes. Daycare centres should have a separate way of registration. We are also facing problems regarding pollution control and fire safety issues. It doesn't come under their purview; however, they will have a meeting with the concerned authorities of the fire department and pollution control board. When nursing homes try to get proper documentation, the pollution control board sends them to get the licensing first and licensing department sends them to secure other NOCs first. There should be unilateral provision to avoid such confusion," he further added.

Considering that the BNH Act asks for mandatory certification from the nursing staff, the association pointed out that many experienced nurses are not certified. Hence, the Health Department authorities should arrange skill development training, which can be used to train experienced nurses. The Nursing Homes had to renew registration each year but the association demanded that the renewal should be done every 5 years. The Health Department has accepted most of the suggestions of the IMA representatives and they are still discussing some other demands. 

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