Assam Health Department Reviews Unregulated Home-Care Nursing Services, Tells HC

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Health & Family Welfare Department has told the Gauhati High Court that the issue of unregulated home-care nursing service to citizens in the state was being looked into.

Health department counsel DP Borah also submitted before the court that a detailed affidavit in this regard shall be filed by December 12, which has been fixed as the next date of hearing by the court.

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), a division bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Kaushik Goswami noted that the PIL highlights a serious public health and elderly-care crisis in Assam.

They said the concern of the petitioners is that the home-care nursing services to the citizens are completely unregulated, with no rules in place regarding minimum qualification of such care givers, their backgrounds etc. There is no grievance redressal mechanism as well.

Observing that many a times untrained and unqualified persons are sent as nurses for the care of sick and elderly persons, who suffer because of administration of wrong medication, the bench said the situation has become even starkerb with increasing number of elderly people as also the youth migrating to other places in search of livelihood.

According to the court, the petition highlights a complete absence of regulation of home-care nursing service in Assam which to a large extent is in breach to right to life with dignity and right to health.

The judges stressed that the state has a duty to safeguard public health - as allowing an unregulated risky home care market tantamounts to dereliction of that duty.

They also observed that many times, misleading advertisements are brought out which beguile various households where such care givers are required.

Hence, they emphasised that there is a need for implementation of the Government of India Model Guidelines, 2022 for Home Care Services for Senior Citizens.

They said mandatory registration; insistence on minimum qualification; police verification and training of all individuals and agencies providing home-care services are urgently required.

Pointing out that citizens shall be facilitated if there is a public portal and a verified list so that the credentials of the home-care givers or agencies hiring and sending them to the households are brought out, the bench noted that it appears that the government is conscious of that requirement, and has communicated with the universities seeking an opinion regarding offering structured courses in the medical care giving functions.

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