Illegal healthcare facilities: DGHS inundated with licence applications

The health directorate is seeing a barrage of applications from healthcare facilities for authorisation following the countrywide drive against unauthorised healthcare organisations.

Just in a single day on May 29 558 such organisations applied to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) online. Yesterday’s figure is yet to be known.

About 44 percent are new applications filed by healthcare facilities having no licences, while the rest are seeking renewal of their expired licences.

Healthcare organisations are filing for licences fearing raids, said the directorate officials. Once applications are filed, they check their documents and if those are found to be in order, they schedule an inspection date, the officials added.

“Many hospitals are not bothered about the stages following an application, such as, filing proper documents – they are only filing applications so as to be able to say that their licences are under process,” said Masud Reza, assistant director (hospitals) at the DGHS.

There are as many as 2,276 healthcare facilities whose status is “pending”, meaning they have applied for licences but have missing documents or made mistakes in the process.

Meanwhile, at least 267 illegal private hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres and blood banks were closed by the DGHS officials during the nationwide crackdown yesterday. The Daily Star