Health Minister Gagan Thapa said on Tuesday that the provision of free treatment for 10 percent patients visiting private hospitals would be enforced.

The government would formulate the law to implement the provision, Thapa told journalists. He said it had been difficult to enforce the provision due to the lack of specific rules. The ministry would solicit suggestions from the private medical fraternity before tabling a bill in Parliament.

The ministry has already dispatched letters to all the private hospitals across the country to provide free health care for needy patients, up to 10 percent of their total number of beds. But the directive has been flouted in the absence of monitoring, awareness and a legal framework.