Sri Lanka to tighten grip on private hospitals

Health Ministry to amend Private Medical Institutions Act to give more powers to the Minister.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health, is to amend the Private Medical Institutions (Registrations) Act no 21 of 2006, in a bid to tighten the regulatory framework of the private health services sector and intends to give more powers to the Minister.

Under the current Act Minister has limited powers to intervene into operational activities of private health practitioners and institutions but under the proposed Bill, Health Minister would be entrusted with wide powers to monitor and regulate operations such as high charges, standards and facilities.

Ministry says that private medical watchdog agency- Private Health Services Regulatory Council, set up under the said Act had been unable to execute its mandate duely, as powers granted to it were grossly inadequate.

PHSRC consist of a representative each from (a) the Independent Medical Practitioners Association; (b) the Sri Lanka Dental Association; and (c) the Society of General Medical Practitioners; one person each to represent the fields of Accountancy, Management, Law and Nursing: and nine representatives from the Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes; who are all appointed by the Minister (Appointed Members).

The ex-officio members of the Council are (i) the Director General of Health Services; (ii) the Director in-charge of development of the Private Health Sector; (iii) the Registrar of the Sri Lanka Medical Council; and (iv) the Provincial Director of Health Services of each Province.

However critics question as to how the Health Ministry which is already saddled with public health services and is unable to deal even with dilemmas such as the dengue menace, would be able to deal with pin-point monitoring of 200 odd private hospitals and 5,000 or more other private medical institutions.
In 2007, government made it mandatory for all medical practitioners and institutions in the country to register with the Council along with the council the time and place where they operate, by June 22.

According to Ministry figures, there are nearly 12,000 part time and 800 full time General Practitioners (GPs), and 750 dental surgeons along with 200 hospitals, 15,000 medical centers, six nursing homes, 450 medical laboratories and six ambulance services operating in the country. However there are said to be well-over 40,000 persons (quacks) who practice medicine without proper qualifications.

- Asian Tribune -