C
Cao Cao
Guest
Friday November 19, 2010
Legal action to be taken against illegal dialysis centres
PETALING JAYA: There are operators setting up and running private haemodialysis centres without the Health Ministry’s approval or licence. “A lot of people are interested in it as a business as there is a shortage of such centres,” said health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican yesterday.
In a press statement, he said that as of Nov 1, the ministry only approved 170 of the 502 applications from private operators. Dr Ismail added that the ministry had been implementing and enforcing the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998. Under the Act, all existing and new private haemodialysis centres, including those under non-governmental organisations were required to get approval from the Health Ministry.
Dr Ismail said among the reasons why the ministry was unable to process the numerous applications for licences was because the centres were unable to provide enough trained and experienced nurses or medical assistants in haemodialysis treatment.
Another obstacle was issues with the infrastructure, such as problems with the floor plan or lack of proper maintenance of equipment. Legal action can be taken against such centres while new centres cannot operate without first obtaining licences.
