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Written By: Admin | Updated : September 26, 2012 12:25 PM IST
Treating traffic accident victims and women in labour irrespective of whether initial payments have happened or not could be made mandatory for all hospitals and doctors as proposed by the Health Ministry. However, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has said that extensive consultation with stakeholders needs to be done to implement it.
"Under the rules of the Clinical Establishment Act... patients can be shifted only after they have been stabilised. Institutions and individuals can lose their licence for non-compliance. We are empowering district magistrates to take action," said Dr Jagdish Prasad, director general, health services.
The matter was discussed at a meeting of the board of governors last month. This is a step towards making a model law to guarantee treatment to people in emergency medical conditions irrespective of their paying capacity.
According to sources, the MCI is unhappy about the proposal. "Our stand is that wider consultation is required to push through something like this... Billing considerations can hardly be wished away without consulting private healthcare providers," said an MCI official.
A law was proposed by the Law Commission in August 2006 which would make it illegal for hospitals and doctors to refuse treatment on the ground that it is a medico-legal case, or that the patient is unable to pay immediately, or that he has no medical insurance or other reimbursement facilities. It is only now that the Health Ministry has started action on the proposal.
