There are 1.8 lakh registered doctors with the MMC. However, an increasing concern over unqualified practitioners has led the semi-quasi judicial body to initiate measures to verify the doctors’ credentials. “We do receive complaints from patients who have undergone treatment and have not recovered. In the past too, measures have been taken and now we are in the process of finalizing the new project,” Dr Rughwani said. Previously, the MMC had also decided to issue registration certificates having individual QR codes to curb forgery or tampering in certificates.

Dr Sandeep Yadav, Chairman, Diagnostic Committee, Indian Medical Association, welcomed the move. “However, it is important that committees set up to check and prevent the practice of bogus doctors at the district and municipal levels meet regularly. For instance, in Sangli, we found that there were several laboratories that were not run by pathologists and were managed by technicians. Committee members need to proactively design strategies to prevent such illegal practices,” Dr Yadav said.

According to Dr Sanjay Patil, state secretary of IMA’s Hospital Board of India, the cases are prevalent in the fringe rural areas. “Due to sustained efforts of the civic health department and the IMA, awareness has been stepped up about the practice of bogus doctors and there is a fair amount of vigilance in the urban areas,” he said.

Recently, the Pune Municipal Corporation’s health department registered a case against a man who posed as a doctor and was allegedly running a clinic at Karvenagar. Dr Suryakant Deokar, assistant medical officer of health, Pune Municipal Corporation, said that the doctor was not registered with any medical council and prescribed some ayurvedic and allopathic medicines.

IMA’s advisory on fire safety

“Fires at hospitals can be devastating, especially where a large number of people admitted in ICUs may be on life support, and incapable of moving on their own. They need to be evacuated hence there are special requirements that must be met while evacuating such people in case of fire emergencies,” said Dr Dinesh Thakare, president of IMA Maharashtra.

Considering several mishaps and accidents regarding electrical connections and appliances, gas leakages and inflammable gas problems and fires in recent weeks, the Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra) recently issued an advisory on safety regulations that need to be followed to prevent fires.

These include that hospitals should get fire NOCs from the fire department or the B form from an authorized agency; setting up a safety committee and ensuring that large hospitals should appoint fire safety officers in-charge, an emergency command center and codes for announcements that become functional immediately whenever there is an emergency.

Fire exits should be well defined and signage should glow in the dark and be visible in two languages, apart from ensuring fire alarm systems are properly tested also forms part of the advisory, the IMA said.