Delhi ACB to inspect 120 private hospitals and nursing homes

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) will inspect 120 private hospitals and nursing homes, beginning Friday, for discrepancies as part of a drive following a fire at a neonatal hospital in Vivek Vihar that killed seven infants in May.

In the first phase of the drive in June, the ACB had inspected 62 private medical facilities and found that four were allegedly running illegally and 40 others with several discrepancies. Officials said for the second phase, the ACB has identified 120 big and small private medical facilities in south, west and north Delhi.

The inspections will start from Friday and are expected to be completed by the end of July, an official said. ACB teams will check documents, licences and registration certificates and whether the medical facilities are following safety norms, the officials said.

While ordering an anti-corruption probe into the Vivek Vihar incident, Delhi L-G V K Saxena on May 28 said the incident has brought out the “sheer mismanagement, criminal neglect and connivance of officials of the health department” in granting and renewing registrations of nursing homes.