Telangana Revives Hospital Regulatory Council

Hyderabad:Operating for over a year without a regulatory body, Telangana’s hospitals and clinics will once again come under official surveillance with the restructuring of the State Council of Clinical Establishments (CEA) through GO 173 issued by the health department on October 27.

The revitalized council under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010 will be responsible for maintaining state registers of healthcare institutions, ensuring compliance with biomedical waste, fire and municipal norms, monitoring service quality and recommending rule changes based on technological and social needs.

The special chief secretary (health and family welfare) will act as the chairman and the directors of medical education, public health and AYUSH will be ex-officio members. The council also includes representatives from the medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy, AYUSH and consumer sectors, ensuring broad, multi-sectoral participation.

The new members include Telangana State Medical Council vice-chairman Dr. G. Srinivas; Dr S. Sarala, retired superintendent of nursing, Government Central Hospital, Karimnagar; Representing the State Pharmacy Council, Dr. Ramesh; and Dr Dayal Singh, retired civil surgeon and IMA Telangana treasurer. The council also included Dr Mallu Prasad (Ayurveda), Dr Mir Yousuf Ali (Unani) and Adv. Gowrishankar Rao of Telangana Confederation of Consumer Organizations.

The Healthcare Reform Physicians Association (HRDA) called the restructuring a “long overdue but vital fix” after the previous council’s term ends in 2024, leaving hospitals in procedural limbo for several months.

However, HRDA warned that revitalizing the regulatory agency should not impose undue compliance burdens on small and medium-sized healthcare providers. “The same rules cannot apply to 200-bed corporate hospitals and 10-bed rural clinics,” said Dr Bandari Rajkumar, senior representative of HRDA. He called on the government to distinguish between large and small businesses and to exclude businesses with under 20 beds from the scope of the Act.

The association also called for simplified online registration and renewal, a single-window permit system for permits and the inclusion of GPs in future consultations. HRDA said balanced regulation could help strengthen patient safety without impeding affordable care in small hospitals and semi-urban areas.