5,000 nursing homes to follow rules

HYDERABAD: Over 5,000 nursing homes and private hospitals under the umbrella of Andhra Pradesh Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association have come forward to implement minimum fire safety norms by installing suitable equipment in a phased  manner."Safety of in-patients, out-patients, their attendants and others is of prime concern to us. In this context we have sent letters to nursing homes, private hospitals and others in the state to adhere to safety norms. Already several hospitals have started implementing them by fixing fire safety equipments,'' APNA state president Rajender SIngh Saluja said.As 90 percent of the hospitals and nursing homes have less than 25 beds and located in small buildings, minimum fire standards like fixing of fire extinguishers and smoke alarm systems will be taken up, he said.A majority of fire accidents took place only in big multi-storeyed corporate hospitals. In the last three to four decades, no major fire mishap took place in small hospitals or nursing homes, but we are taking precautions to avoid AMRI-like incidents, Saluja said.In this context, a meeting with Director General of Fire Services Ray Vinay Ranjan and GHMC Commissioner MT Krishna Babu will be held in IMA Hall, Koti, on December 22 on effective implementation of fire safety norms, he added."GHMC and fire services department should be strict with corporate hospitals. They can easily invest Rs 10 lakh for fire safety," APNA general secretary KGN Reddy said. He wanted the government to go after big hospitals as they are the main culprits in violating norms.Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Super Speciality Hospitals Association (ASHA) announced setting up of special task forces to monitor safety norms. A series of workshops for doctors and hospital staff on fire safety norms will be conducted.The task force will look for basic safety features that are lacking and convey the same to the hospitals.  The general feeling among ASHA members is that ignorance is behind the failure of hospitals in installing fire safety equipment.The twin cities together have over 1,000 hospitals, of which 43 are of super speciality category. Since only 5 percent of the total construction cost is spent on fire safety, there can be no excuse for improper implementation, according to B Bhasker Rao, president, ASHA.