SHC tells healthcare commission to submit report by October 1

The Sindh High Court has directed the Sindh Healthcare Commission to submit a report with regard to a clinical audit of the government and private hospitals and a list of registered health care establishments in the province.

The direction came at a hearing of a petition seeking action against unlicensed healthcare establishments in the province and implementation of Sindh healthcare laws.

Jaffer Raza and Asad Iftikhar submitted in the petition that several patients, including nine-month-old baby Nishwa, had died due to alleged medical negligence by private healthcare institutions.

They submitted that all those medical establishments which failed the clinical audit should be sealed and their licences revoked

They said that medical negligence at such a regular frequency only indicated that the issue was rampant in our society and could only be attributed to weak laws and even weaker implementation.

They added that the apathy and callousness of medical practitioners and healthcare establishments had only contributed to the menace to the extent that there was hardly a citizen who had been not been directly or indirectly affected by medical negligence.

They said that there were countless instances of medical negligence whereby people had lost their lives due to improper treatment and those very medical practitioners continued risking the lives of many more as there was no proper system of checks and balances.

The petitioners submitted that the Sindh Healthcare Commission Act was promulgated in 2013 which also provides for the promulgation of a commission with wide- ranging powers including investigation of malpractices and failures in the provisions of healthcare services.

Despite the lapse of several years, they said, the commission was not working properly. Had the commission’s powers been put to use, the society would not have experienced the horrific incidents of medical malpractice which were happening at an ever-increasing rate, they added.

They submitted that the healthcare commission was also authorised to monitor and regulate the quality and standards of healthcare services and issue regulations and guidelines for the provisions of healthcare in Sindh, but the law seemed far-fetched and fictitious with no implementation.

They stated that omissions and lapses on part of the commission by failing to use their discretionary powers had led to the medical practitioners and health care establishments enjoying unprecedented impunity whose grave negligence went unchecked and without any legal repercussions.

They submitted that medical practitioners used medical jargon and terminologies to misguide the public at large and used the same as a veil to hide their own incompetence and negligence as the common man was easily deceived and did not take it upon himself to investigate the matter.

Citing the federal and provincial health ministries, the PMDC and the Sindh Healthcare Commission as respondents, the court was requested to direct the respondents to implement the act and other prevalent laws in letter and spirit.

They requested the court to direct the government to carry out a third party evaluation through an independent performance/clinical audit of healthcare establishments as per the act and seal/shut down unlicensed healthcare establishments.

The petitioners also sought an order for framing standard operating procedures in line with internationally recognised medical practices and with the World Health Organization guidelines and cancel/revoke/terminate the licences of medical establishments which had been found guilty of medical negligence.

A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar directed the counsel of the healthcare commission to file comments on the proposed statement of the petitioners with regard to compliance with the healthcare laws.

The court directed the counsel of the healthcare commission to place on record the facts and figures showing as to of many hospitals the clinical audit had been completed and also submit a list of the registered healthcare establishments in the province.

The court directed the counsel to submit the report by October 1.

Newborn babies

The Sindh High Court directed the health secretary to ensure proper identification of newborn babies in government-run hospitals.

The direction came during a hearing of a petition of Hina Ishtiaq with regard to a mechanism for the identification of newborn babies in government-run hospitals.

A representative of the Civil Hospital Karachi submitted a mechanism with regard to identification of newborn babies in government hospitals and to make recommendations.

According to the recommendations, when a child is born, without wasting any time and as soon as possible the child should be tagged as per his or her gender along with the name of his or her mother and then be sent for cleaning or washing.

It was suggested that hospitals should make an official labour room policy as the tagging of babies is delayed due to lack of training or experience and shifting of doctors and staff which would lead to swapping of several newborn children who were present at the same places and at the same time.

The report suggested that the hospitals should also maintain a register of admissions irrespective of their computerised mechanisms to avoid any untoward circumstances.

It was further suggested that the practice of labelling and tagging incubators or mentioning the names of children on the top of the incubator or on a white board or on scotch tape should not be followed and should be set aside and instead the children should be properly tagged at all times.

A division bench headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar directed the secretary health that all these recommendations be followed IN letter and spirit in all public hospitals and adjourned the hearing till October 18.