Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Formulation Of Fresh Accreditation Policy To Ensure Best Patient To Doctor, Patient To Nurse Ratio In NABH Hospitals

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking formulation of a fresh national accreditation policy for ensuring adherence of best patient to doctor and patient to nurse ratio in all the NABH hospitals.

The plea also seeks directions on the Quality Council of India and National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers, to place on record the documents which it scrutinizes before granting accreditation to hospitals.

The petition has been filed by Indian Professional Nurses Association, moved through Advocates Robin Raju, Deepa Joseph and Blessan Mathews.

The petition avers that the basis for filing the petition are the replies received from the respondents to the RTI applications filed by the Petitioner Organisation. 

According to the plea, it has been submitted that the Quality Council of India had stated that they don't have any norms that specify ratio of nurse to patient and that no study or survey has been conducted to monitor the quality of nursing care, patient safety and patient satisfaction.

In this backdrop, the plea states that there is a need to constitute a committee to monitor the quality of patient care, patient safety and patient satisfaction, including an assessment of patient to doctor and patient to nurse ratio.

"That it is pertinent to mention herein that the Petitioner has not been able to gather documents that reveal that the best patient-nurse ratio is not been followed by hospitals accredited by Respondent no.1 and 2, as they are internal documents and placing such documents in a petition in like this would put the jobs of nurses at peril," the plea adds.

It has also been stated that there is also a need for NABH to conduct surprise visits along with pre-informed inspections in hospitals to monitor if the safety standards are being complied by the said hospitals.

"It is extremely concerning to note that the apex accreditation body in the country does not give the requisite importance to the norms related to patient-doctor and patient-nurse ratio while granting NABH accreditation," the plea reads.

Title: Indian Professional Nurses Association v. Quality Council of India & Ors.