New guidelines drawn up for nursing homes

CHANDIGARH, Feb 7: The UT administration has taken a serious note of mushrooming of illegal nursing homes in residential areas of the cit...

CHANDIGARH, Feb 7: The UT administration has taken a serious note of mushrooming of illegal nursing homes in residential areas of the city and has laid down conditions for regularisation of such establishments.

As per a recent notification of the administration, no nursing home can now function from a residential building in Chandigarh without getting written permission from the chief administrator and fulfilling the space and location specifications.

quot;An allottee of a building can seek permission for a nursing home, provided the plot in question has a minimum size of 500 square yards and is located on V-4, V-5, or V-6 roads in the sectors. And even then the chief administrator can refuse grant of permission, if the nursing home creates undue traffic or other problems in the locality,quot; the notification says.

Parking space for vehicles equivalent to the number of indoor beds plus two, is an important condition listed for a regular nursing home. The order specifies parking space for atleast five cars and jeeps in case the nursing home does not have any facility for indoor beds. The number of beds and requirement of parking space will be determined by the chief administrator on the advice of a committee comprising assistant commissioner, municipal corporation, Senior Town Planner and assistant estate officer, making the procedural formalities for the running of nursing homes all the more complex.

Even as the authorities have directed against running of a chemist shop from the premises of a nursing home, the owner is required to ensure adequate arrangements for disposal of hospital waste before seeking regularisation of the nursing home in the residential area.

The administration has fixed charges for the change in use of a building for running a nursing home. The rate is Rs 2,000 per square yard of the covered area and Rs 500 per square yard for the uncovered area. Besides, annual charges of Rs 20,000 for a plot of 500 square yards would also be charged from the owner.

The notification authorises the estate office, or any other officer directed by the chief administrator, for carrying out surprise checks in nursing homes and in case they find any violation of the conditions laid down for the running of nursing homes, they can cancel the permission, besides taking action against the erring owner.

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A concerned UT official said over 100 nursing home owners in various sectors have already applied for regularisation and their applications are being processed. quot;The step would check the violation effectively and would come as a respite for residents of different localities, most of whom have been complaining about the functioning of such nursing homesquot;, he said.