The licencing for Baby Care New Born hospital in Vivek Vihar, East Delhi, where a major fire killed six newborn babies and wounded five more, expired two months ago, on March 31, but it is not the only nursing home or hospital that operates with an expired licence.
Data from the health department of the Delhi government shows that out of 1,183 registered nursing homes in the capital, the registration of 340 (28.74%) has expired, some as long as six years back. The highest number of such facilities with expired licences operate in West and Northwest Delhi. Vivek Vihar, where the tragedy occurred, has two such; in close proximity are nine others.
The licences of two, Ardent Ganpati Hospital in Mundka and Indra Clinic & Test Tube Baby Center in Patel Nagar, expired in March 2018, according to the status report, and those of another eight in March 2019. When contacted, some of the facilities toted out the standard excuses: their renewal process was under review; they lacked a fire NOC, a prerequisite for obtaining licences; bureaucracy; or financial troubles dating back to Covid.
West Delhi has 288 nursing homes, of which the registration of 33.3% (96 units) has expired. Northwest has 194, with 48 expired licences (24.7%). East Delhi has 94 with 25 violators (26.6%); Southwest Delhi has 102 and 29 expired licences (28.4%); and South Delhi has 94 nursing homes of which the licences of 25 (26.6%) have expired.
Central and New Delhi fare better, with 63 and 23 nursing homes, of which the licences of 17 and two have expired. HT has seen a copy of the status report that provides the data, and a senior official from the health department confirmed the data on condition of anonymity.
Delhi LG VK Saxena on Tuesday ordered a probe by the anti-corruption bureau into the process of registration of nursing homes in the city, citing that “more than quarter of nursing homes in Delhi are operating without valid registration” and that “even those nursing homes with registration may not be meeting the safety and regulatory standards”.
The nursing home cell under the directorate general of health services (Delhi government) registers and regulates the activities of the nursing homes running in the city as per the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act, 1953. The cell is mandated to carry out the registration and renewal of registration of these units after every three years.
The report of the nursing home cell dated May 7, 2024 states that there are at least 119 more nursing homes like the Vivek Vihar facility whose licences expired two months ago on March 31, 2024 and another 133 nursing homes whose registration expired in March 2023. And 65 whose licences expired in March 2020.
These nursing home’s range in size from small facilities with just two beds to those with 70 beds, which would make them almost full-fledged hospitals. The report adds that out of the 340 that have seen their licences expire, the prices of renewing or cancelling licences is ongoing in 98.
Delhi’s AAP government pointed to the city-state’s bureaucracy, which reports to the LG.
Health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the Secretary (Health) has yet not reported for duty. “I am unable to provide the information as the same is available with the department and not available offhand with me,” he added.
The health secretary did not respond to requests seeking comment.
HT reached out to 20 of these nursing homes with longest pendency out of which seven responded. At Aggarwal Charitable Hospital, in North Delhi’s Shakti Nagar, whose licence expired in March 2020, an official who answered the phone said that they were not able to renew the registration for lack of an NOC (no-objection certificate) from the fire department. “We don’t have an active licence as fire NOC has become a prerequisite for licence application after 2020 and the building of the hospital is very old and it came up before the existing fire policy.”
He added, “We are in touch with the authorities,” and claimed that they did not have enough funds to rebuild as per the new norms.
At Satayanand Medical Centre in Tagore Garden, which saw its licences expire four years back, a doctor who asked not to be named answered the phone and claimed that the “licence was under review and documentation work was underway”.
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At Sharad Nursing Home in Nangloi, whose licence expired in 2020, a doctor claimed DGHS inspected the facility around six months ago. The doctor attributed the lack of renewal to Covid pandemic. “We have all the necessary documentation for running the facility. We were hit hard due to Covid, and at one point we closed down our nursing home and resumed after the situation got better,” he said.
At the Temple Nursing Home in Daryaganj, an official who answered the hospital’s phone said that the their licence, which expired in 2020, was under review. “We are very old hospital and we have applied for renewal of licence,” she added.
Finally, at Maharaja Agarsain Hospital (Charitable) in Ashok Vihar, a doctor disputed the status mentioned in the report. “We have all the licences in place and we should not be on this list.”
In truth, many should not be operating.
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Source: HT
