New medical council not notified yet, fewer checks on illegal clinics

The Delhi Medical Council’s activities have suffered a setback with the notification of the new council pending for over a month now.

The medical council is responsible for conducting regular inspections on illegal doctors, address grievances of patients on doctors and conduct continuing medical education (CME) programmes for doctors in the city, among carrying out other functions.

The council comprises 23 members, of whom nine are elected and four are government appointees. It consists representatives of head of medical institutions also. The council is dissolved every five years and each member can be appointed for a maximum of 10 years. The council has committees under it.

This year, there was dispute over the government appointees in the fresh council and the matter went to court. Now with the legal issues sorted, the Delhi government still has taken cognisance to notify the new council members.

Raids have become infrequent. This means that illegal doctors go scot free. The council also deals with the complaints of patients against doctors across hospitals in the capital.

As a rule, every medical practitioner should be registered with the Delhi Medical Council to practise medicine in the city.

“The legal issues regarding the appointment of the members were resolved on October 20. But the council has not been notified yet. Conducting inspections on clinics has suffered a setback. More grievances of patients can be addressed once the new council comes into effect,” said Dr Girish Tyagi, Registrar, Delhi Medical Council.

“The old council was carrying out the duties till over a month back,” said Tyagi.
According to sources in the DMC, though the old council was functioning till a month back, the output of the council has suffered for over the past three months now with the rate of inspections declining.

Some of the court cases have been pending for around two years and there is an urgent need to be fast-track them, they added. The issue needs to be addressed at the earliest in the interest of the people.

Quacks unchecked
Calling for the notification from the government at the earliest, Dr Anil Bansal raised concerns about the illegal practices that are going unchecked.

“The council should be immediately notified with the fresh list of candidates. The role of the medical body is important in keeping a check on illegal activities of quacks or address any wrongdoing of a doctor,” said Dr Anil Bansal, former chairperson, anti-quackery cell, DMC.

Without a full-fledged team, it is not possible to carry out the routine activities,” added Dr Bansal.