Nagpur: Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to conduct a comprehensive audit of private hospitals in the city following complaints of hospitals operating with beds beyond their sanctioned capacity and encroaching upon spaces meant for parking.Special teams will be formed to inspect hospitals and verify the sanctioned and actual number of beds, use of parking spaces and other regulatory violations. The civic administration has been directed to complete the exercise within a month and initiate action against erring hospitals.The issue came up during the question hour at the NMC general body meeting on Thursday. BJP corporator Ritesh Pandey sought details of hospitals having 100 or more beds and questioned what action had been taken against hospitals that exceeded their sanctioned capacity. He cited cases where hospitals sanctioned for 25 beds were allegedly operating 30 beds.NCP corporator Abha Pandey also questioned whether private hospitals were providing parking facilities as mandated under the rules and sought details of action against those violating the norms.Medical officer Dr Deepak Selokar said action was taken against hospitals and doctors when excess beds were found. However, he failed to provide satisfactory details about the number of recent actions taken.Mayor Neeta Thakre expressed displeasure over the health department’s response. She pointed out that the department had earlier failed to provide satisfactory information to the house regarding bogus doctors. She directed municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar to obtain details from corporators about hospitals allegedly operating additional beds and clarify the action proposed against them.Corporators also alleged that several private hospitals were using parking areas for OPDs, diagnostic centres and even installing beds there, in clear violation of norms. They demanded regular inspections of hospitals and strict action against officials for failing to enforce the rules.Following the mayor’s directions, Itankar said all hospitals in the city would be inspected. The exercise would cover the number of beds and utilisation of parking areas, following which action would be taken against violators.The NMC will also develop a portal providing information on the number of beds in city hospitals and their availability. The entire exercise, including the inspections and creation of the portal, is expected to be completed within a month.
