Patna, Aug. 24: Doctors are eager to perform cosmetic surgery on a bill to improve the healthcare delivery system in the state.

Miffed over the state government’s plan to implement the Centre’s model of Clinical Establishment and Regulation Act, the Bihar chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) is contemplating to move the Patna High Court to oppose it.

The body, which represents over 20,000 government-employed and private medical practitioners in the state, is opposed to a number of clauses in the act, which was formally notified by the state government yesterday.

Dr Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, national executive member, IMA, told The Telegraph: “We have reservations about many provisions of the act. For example, the central act says no clinic or nursing homes can be run from a residential complex. It also talks about ‘stabilising’ an emergency patient. These things can be applicable for big corporate hospitals on a wider scale. However, in Bihar, where there is no proper infrastructure, most of the clinics are run on a small-level. Thus, this act makes no sense.”

He also said IMA would seek chief minister Nitish Kumar’s intervention in the matter.

“The act has been notified in the state but its provisions are yet to be laid down. The government is at present planning to adopt the Union act as is. We will protest against that. For now, we are trying to arouse the consciousness of the government. But if our demands are not heard and the Centre’s act is not amended, we will have to go for the litigation,” Prasad added.

Sources in the health department said the act aims to improve the healthcare delivery system and ensure uniform standards of facilities and services by various private healthcare companies, including clinics, maternity homes, nursing homes, dispensaries and pathological laboratories.

While a clinic would be issued a preliminary registration number within six months of its establishment, it would be required to fulfil all the provisions of the act within two years.

If they fail, they would be shut down.

A senior officer of the department said once the provisions of the act are formalised, a state council would be constituted to determine the standards of the healthcare establishments and update a register of such organisations.

“At present, the quality of service provided by the healthcare delivery system is inconsistent and unregulated. The need for the act has come up because of a number of problems, including inadequate and inappropriate treatment of patients in private hospitals, excessive use of higher technologies, wasting of scarce resources, medical malpractice and negligence,” he said.

The doctors’ association, however, fears that the act will only usher in a licence raj in the field of medicine.

“We are not completely against the act. However, we want certain changes in the national model. For example, the act proposes the same fee structure for diseases across different private hospitals. This is impractical, as hospitals charge fee according to the quality of the services they provide. The same yardstick cannot be used to measure services by all private clinics,” said Dr Ajay Kumar, general secretary, Bihar Health Services Association.