Illegal kidney transplants expose Telangana’s regulatory lapses

Clinical Establishments Act mandates inspections by district health authorities to assess the facilities and staff available at the registered private hospitals.

Hyderabad: The kidney transplantation racket at Alaknanda Hospital, Saroornagar underscores the lapses on the part of the State government to establish an efficient framework to regulate small and medium sized hospitals that have mushroomed in Hyderabad and surrounding districts of Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri district.

Despite Health Minister, Damodar Raja Narasimha frequently claiming to prioritize implementation of Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, the fact remains that 20 illegal kidney surgeries were taken-up at Alaknanda Hospital in the past year.

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Clinical Establishments Act mandates inspections by district health authorities to assess the facilities and staff available at the registered private hospitals.

The Alaknanda Hospital at Saroornagar, which was registered under Rangareddy district health authorities, was only permitted to operate a 9-bedded health care facility and lacked the regulatory approvals for conducting organ transplantation. The private hospital received permission based on a doctor who had completed his MBBS degree from Uzbekistan, a Plastic Surgeon and a general physician.

The Clinical Establishment Act was enacted by the Union Government to regulate all clinical establishments in the country by prescribing minimum standards for facilities and services. It is mandatory for all private hospitals to register themselves under the Act and apply for renewal for every 5 years.

However, senior health officials (who requested anonymity) acknowledged the challenges in inspecting all small and medium-sized hospitals. “The District health department is already under severe stress, as they implement multiple health initiatives of the State government. Conducting frequent inspections in such a large number of private middle-sized hospitals with 10 to 50 beds is humanly impossible,” doctors familiar with the issue maintained.