Guwahati, Dec. 10: Assam has adopted the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, for effective monitoring of healthcare institutions in the state.

The Assam Assembly today passed a resolution, moved by health minister Nazrul Islam, to implement the central act that aims at a better and uniform system of registration and regulation of healthcare establishments in the country.

The act, passed by Parliament in 2010, came into force after it was notified on February 28, 2012. For implementation of the act, it has to be adopted by the states since health is a state subject.

The act makes it obligatory for all clinical establishments to provide medical care and treatment necessary to stabilise any individual who comes or is brought to the clinical establishments during an emergency medical condition, particularly women who come for deliveries and accident victims. The act makes registration mandatory for all clinical establishments, including diagnostic centres and single-doctor clinics (with or without beds) across all recognised systems of medicine both in the public and private sectors except those run by the defence forces.

The health minister said there would be two types of registration - provisional and permanent.

"The legislation also sets up a national council, which will classify, determine and develop minimum standards for clinical establishments. The council will also compile and publish a national register. Each state will set up a multi-member state council establishments, while the registering authority will be a multi-member body at the district level," Islam said.

The registering authority can impose fines for non-compliance and if a clinical establishment fails to pay the same, it would be recovered as an arrear of land revenue. It will facilitate policy formulation, resource allocation and determine standards of treatment, besides creating an accurate database of such facilities available in the country.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare asked all states to adopt the law by passing a resolution in their Assemblies. Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have already adopted the act.

The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 will replace the erstwhile Assam Health Establishment Act, 1993 and Rules, 1995, which has already been repealed.

Hospitals without doctors: The health minister informed the Assembly that 16 state-run hospitals in the state do not have a single doctor or nurse.

Replying to a starred question by AGP legislator Phani Bhusan Choudhury, Islam said doctors and nurses would be sent to these hospitals by January next year. There were six medical colleges, 25 district hospitals, 14 sub-divisional civil hospitals, 151 community health centres, 1,014 primary health centres and 4,621 sub-centres in the state, he added.

The minister said 2,005 posts of doctors were lying vacant in these hospitals.