The Ministry of Health has directed to close all unregistered hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres in the country within 72 hours.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Professor Ahmedul Kabir, Additional Director General (Administration) of the Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) recently.
Legal action will be taken if any unregistered clinic or diagnostic centre is open after this period. He said that clinics and diagnostic centres that did not apply for licenses are illegal. If a person conducts activities after the time allotted, we will take legal action against him. In the meeting, Ahmedul Kabir discussed increasing monitoring and supervision of private hospitals and clinics in the country. At the end of the discussion a few decisions were made.
The decisions are;
1. Unregistered private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres in the country must close within the next 72 hours. The activities will continue against unregistered private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres. These activities need to be coordinated with local administration and law enforcement agencies.
2. Institutions that have received registration but have not renewed their registration must be given a deadline to renew. If the renewal is not done within the stipulated time, the activities of those institutions will be stopped too.
3. Strict measures to be taken against illegal private institutions and clinics, including the revocation of licenses, if any other than a registered doctor is employed to provide anaesthesia and assist OT during the operation.
4. Institutions that have applied for new registration must expedite the licensing process. These organisations will not be able to run activities before getting the license. It is to be mentioned that according to the estimates of the department, the number of approved and applied clinics and diagnostic centres in the country is about eleven thousand.
