A State Council above and a District Registering Authority below: the clinical establishments law of Kerala

Background

Every hospital and laboratory in Kerala is registered under an Act of 2018. Act No. 2 of 2018 provides for the registration and regulation of clinical establishments in recognised systems of medicine. A clinical establishment covers a hospital, a maternity home, a nursing home, a clinic or a sanatorium, with or without beds, and also a laboratory doing diagnostic or investigative work. It applies whether the establishment belongs to the Government, a trust, a partnership firm, a corporation or a Local Self Government Institution. The Act leaves out places that give only consultation services, and those run by the Armed Forces. The systems it recognises are Modern Medicine including dentistry, and then Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Sidha and Unani — or any other system the Government recognises. A State Council sits above the system, a District Registering Authority does the registering and an Appellate Authority hears appeals.