The Curative Service Division under the Department of Health Services has warned private hospitals and nursing homes that their licences won’t be renewed if they continued ignoring the rules to provide 10 percent beds and other services for free to the poor and needy patients.

Rural municipalities, municipalities, sub-metropolitan cities, metropolitan cities, local health facilities and district public health offices are authorised to define poor people and issue them recommendation letters for free medical treatment.

The warning of the division comes after documents furnished by most of the private hospitals and nursing homes for renewing their licences showed they had been flouting the government rules.

"We also conducted surprise inspections at private hospitals and found that most hospitals had been violating the provision," Dr Taranath Pokhrel, director at the division told the Post. "We will take action against those hospitals if they are found ignoring rules despite our warnings."

As per the government rules, all health facilities— state-run and private— have to reserve 10 percent of their beds for the poor, disabled, elderly people, and single women and provide free treatment. The guidelines relating to the establishment, operation and improvement of health institutes had incorporated the provision.

Dr Prakash Budhathoky, chief of ENT and Oral Health Unit at the division, said that most of the private hospitals including renowned nursing homes have ignored government rules.

"Some hospitals have provided treatment to their own relatives or relatives of their staffers in the free beds and claimed that they have been abiding by the government rules,"said Budhathoky."Some hospitals have offered free beds to political leaders and their relatives."

Similarly, some hospitals claimed they provided 10 percent beds by offering free check-ups at the health camps they have been running at various places.

According to the division, most of the private hospitals and nursing homes, who applied for licence renewal, could not furnish details—contact numbers, photocopy of citizenship certificate and other details to the division. The division has asked them for evidence such as photographs of free beds and other details to prove that they have been abiding by the government rules before renewing their licences.

"We could not verify the claims made by the hospitals that they provided free beds and services to poor and needy," Budhathoky said. "We can find out and suspend the licences of such hospitals if they do not abide by the rules."

The division regulates and renews licence of hospitals which have 200 or more beds.

Kumar Thapa, senior vice-chairman of the Association of Private Health Institution of Nepal, however, claimed that an understanding has been forged with the officials at the Health Ministry that they would not compel the private health facilities to provide free services.

"As the government has not yet properly defined who is poor, how can we know who is poor and who is not?" Thapa said."Health ministry officials have directed the officials concerned in our presence not to compel private hospitals to provide free services unless the government distributes identity cards."

The existing 10 percent free bed facility covers medical counselling, lab fees, nursing fees, diagnostic services as well as the oxygen facilities to patients.