Though the District Administration Office, Siraha says that over three dozen hospitals are running in the district, the District Health Office (DHO) says only 12 of them are registered. [break]
According to Rajkumar Das, an official at DHO, a hospital can not come to operation without registration. “But the trend here is just the opposite. First they run the hospital and then start the registration process,” said Das.
Ajaya Yadav, a local, said that the trend of illegally operating hospitals without registration is on the rise as neither the Health Service Department nor the Regional Health Directorate monitor private hospitals.
“The government bodies are indifferent to rampant increase in the number of hospitals operating without registration. This has further encouraged this unscrupulous practice,” said Yadav, adding that the practice has posed a grave risk to public health.
Locals also complained that the private hospitals are fleecing money from patients, claiming they have been providing better services. The locals also complained that the hospitals drop names of specialized doctors who never visit them.
Moreover, negligence in treatment is common in these hospitals. A few days ago, a woman died at Lahan-based Friends Model Hospital, allegedly due to negligence of a doctor. The hospital later paid compensation to the victim´s family. After the incident, the people in the district had demanded authorities to strictly monitor private hospitals.
Chief District Officer, Anil Thakur, accepted that several private hospitals were running illegally in the district. He, however, expressed his inability to take action against them saying the law does not clearly authorize them to deal with such cases.
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