Jaipur : The standoff between private hospital doctors and state government over implementation of the Right to Health (RTH) Bill in Rajasthan is over as a consensus was arrived and an eight-point agreement was agreed upon between the two sides. The deadlock was ended after the protesting doctors held a meeting at the residence of Chief Secretary Usha Sharma. CM Ashok Gehlot tweeted: “I am happy that finally an agreement has been reached between the government and doctors on RTH and Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to implement the same. I hope the relationship between doctors and patients will remain the same in future.”
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the state government, Indian Medical Association, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Society (PHNHS) and United Private Clinics’ &Hospitals’ Association of Rajasthan (UPCHAR). A consensus reached over eight points.As per the agreement, most of the private hospitals have been excluded from the ambit of the Bill. Multi-specialty hospitals with a bed capacity of 50 or more and private hospitals operating without any government help will be excluded from the purview of the Right to Health Act.
Hospitals and private medical colleges operating on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode will come under the purview of this law. Hospitals that have received land from the government at concessional rates and are being operated by trusts will also come under its ambit. Police cases or other types of cases filed during the doctors’ strike will be cancelled. A single-window system will be implemented for permission related to hospitals, and fire NOCs will be considered every five years. The RTH Bill provides mandatory free and affordable medical services in hospitals, clinics and laboratories, both public and privately owned.