Gautam Budh Nagar district hospitals told to submit safety affidavits

The chief medical officer (CMO) of Gautam Budh Nagar has directed all hospitals and nursing homes in the district to submit safety-compliance affidavits by March 18. The direction has come in the wake of Metro Hospital fire that took place on February 7.

In a letter issued on Tuesday, CMO Anurag Bhargava mentioned the incident of fire in which the hospital had to evacuate 63 patients and other persons.

“Family and attendants of patients had to face trouble during the fire incident at Metro Hospital. Recently, similar fire incidents had taken place in Delhi. Getting treatment in a safety environment is the fundamental right of patients,” the chief medical officer said in the letter.

All the owners and management of hospitals have been asked to submit an affidavit mentioning that they have followed all the guidelines laid down for power, bio-medical waste and fire to ensure safe environment to the patients.

The affidavit has to be notarised and made on a ₹100 stamp paper. It will be submitted to the CMO. The letter has made it clear that the affidavit will be signed and submitted on behalf of the owners or board of directors or trustees of the establishment.

The administration has made it clear that strict action will be taken against those who fail to submit the affidavit.

A team of officials from the health department, along with the administration, will start conducting random inspections at hospitals and nursing homes to check if the fire, power and bio-medical waste guidelines have been followed or not.

“We have issued the letter to all the hospitals and nursing homes asking them to submit an affidavit ensuring safety of patients. Strict action will be taken against those who fail to follow the directions issued by the CMO,” BN Singh, district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

“The action will be taken under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010,” he added.

There are around 300 hospitals in the district, out of which 165 are the big ones.

The main concern of the administration is big hospitals as they need to have proper advanced fire safety arrangements to deal with emergencies. The small ones need to just have fire extinguisher, an official not authorised to speak to the media said.