Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Quality assurance committee to accredit hospitals

Thiruvananthapuram: The first district-level quality assurance committee, which met here on Saturday, has decided to conduct inspections in all private hospitals and to give accreditation to those institutions which are fully equipped to perform sterilisation surgeries as well as Medical Termination of Pregnancies (MTP).

Four private hospitals — Dr. Govindan’s Hospital, SUT Hospital, Ananthapuri Hospital and Research Institute and Gokulam Medical College — were given accreditation by the committee on Saturday.

District Medical Officer Kumari G. Prema, who is also the convener of the quality assurance committee, said the committee will inspect other private sector hospitals in the district and issue accreditation certificates within two months.

Government hospitals are not required to secure separate accreditation. However, the committee will have to ensure that all institutions performing sterilisation surgeries and MTPs have the necessary facilities. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) will step in to provide facilities in government hospitals as required.

The quality assurance committee, with the District Collector as the chairperson, has been set up as per a Central regulation issued in July this year that all hospitals conducting deliveries and post-partum sterilisation surgeries and MTPs need to have certain quality norms.

Some 30-35 private sector institutions, mostly within the city limits, had already been issued certificates by the State Health Department in previous years. Those institutions which are conducting deliveries and which are yet to get government approval will now have to be screened by the committee and issued accreditation as per the new checklist issued by the Union Health Ministry, Dr. Prema said.

The committee will also empanel a list of doctors who are sufficiently qualified to perform sterilisation procedures and MTPs. While graduate doctors (MBBS) can perform both these surgeries, laparoscopic sterilisation surgeries may be performed only by those with postgraduate or additional DGO (Diploma) qualifications. The quality assurance committee was ordered to be set up by the Union Health Ministry to prevent quacks from performing illegal MTPs and also to check the fall in sex ratio through selective foeticide. MTPs are legal in the country and under the MTP Act, the procedure can be performed only in accredited maternity hospitals. Even though laws were in place, these were not being implemented strictly and the government decided to crack the whip as it was found that many unaccredited private hospitals were performing MTP surgeries and not keeping any medical records. It will now be the committee’s task to ensure that no unaccredited hospitals are performing sterilisation or MTP procedures.

The hospital Superintendents of all accredited hospitals, including private hospitals, will have to compulsorily inform the committee within 24 hours, any deaths or complications following MTPs/sterilisation surgeries.

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