Ahmedabad, May 14 (PTI) Private hospitals and nursing homes in Ahmedabad in Gujarat on Saturday downed shutters for two days while doctors, nurses and healthcare workers took out rallies to protest against a rule making ‘Building Use’ certificate mandatory for renewal of registration of the units.
OPD services and planned surgeries across most of the 1,700-odd private hospitals and nursing homes in the city were shut on Saturday, and around 4,500 doctors, nurses and healthcare staff took to the streets to protest, an official of the Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (AHNHA) said.
The Association’s protest was against the decision of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to make BU permits mandatory for renewal of Form-C, which is required under Bombay Nursing Homes Act, 1949 to register an entity as a medical establishment. Earlier, it was renewed without any hassles.
Making BU permit mandatory for renewal of registration is unjust and has affected over 400 units in the city, said AHNHA president Dr Bharat Gadhavi.
“We demand immediate withdrawal of the requirement imposed by the AMC to have BU permission for Form-C renewal. Form-C of hundreds of hospitals and nursing homes which have not been renewed yet for lack of BU permission should be done so immediately,” said a protestor.
Gadhavi said around 30,000 OPDs were cancelled and 3,000 operations postponed, though emergency services continued, adding that a blood donation camp will be organised on Sunday as part of the protest.
The AMC’s action to tighten rules has come after the Gujarat High Court, while hearing a PIL on fires in hospitals, pressed the civic authorities to ensure buildings, especially hospitals and nursing homes, comply with both BU permit and fire safety.
A fire at Shrey hospital in Ahmedabad in August 2020 killed eight patients, while a fire at Uday Shivanand Hospital at Rajkot in November the same year killed nine. A fire at a Bharuch hospital on May 1, 2021 had killed 18 persons. PTI KA BNM BNM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.