Doctors working in illegal hospitals will also be considered illegal: DGHS

If a registered doctor renders medical services at an illegal hospital, his activities will be considered illegal, said Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) officials, ahead of the operation to shut down illegal hospitals, diagnostic centres, and blood banks across the country.

After three months, the DGHS will now once again conduct a strict drive for four days, from Monday to Thursday, to close down illegal health service providers.

On 26 May, a 72-hour operation was conducted and three months were given to unregistered health entities to register. Those who did not utilise the opportunity will not be allowed to carry on, said DGHS Additional Director General (Administration), Professor Dr Ahmedul Kabir, at a press conference on Sunday.

Despite repeated warnings, some institutes still have pending applications due to the non-rectification of required documents. For this reason, it is important to conduct operations in coordination with law enforcement agencies, Ahmedul Kabir added.

The press briefing informed that in May, 1,641 health institutions were closed down by raiding hospitals and clinics across the country. About Tk26 lakh in revenues was generated in the campaign by fining the institutions and issuing new licenses. 

Currently, 1,946 establishments are awaiting inspection for new licenses, while 2,887 are awaiting inspection for license renewal. So far, new licenses have been given to 1,489 establishments. Licenses were renewed for 2,930 entities.

Professor Ahmedul Kabir said that after the campaign ends it can be determined how many new health institutes got registered. The next campaign will be to gauge the quality of their services. Then registered institutions will be divided into A, B, and C categories, which will be posted on the DGHS website so that people can know which hospitals are legal.