PolicyHealth
Health directorate tells states to stop hospitals reusing single-use medical devices
The Directorate General of Health Services says some private and corporate hospitals are sterilising and reusing items meant for one procedure, in cardiology, nephrology, oncology and neurosurgery.
Key points
- The DGHS has warned against reuse of single-use medical devices and disposable surgical items.
- It found the practice in some private and corporate hospitals, in specialties such as cardiology and neurosurgery.
- States and union territories have been asked to enforce the rules strictly.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has warned hospitals across the country against reusing medical devices and surgical items that are made to be used only once, saying the practice puts patients at risk and must stop in both public and private hospitals.
In a letter to the health departments of states and union territories, the directorate said some private and corporate hospitals were sterilising and reusing single-use items in specialties including cardiology, nephrology, oncology and neurosurgery.
The DGHS, part of the Union Health Ministry, set out four areas of concern: patient safety, infection control, compliance with the regulations on medical devices, and the cost of care. Reprocessing items that were never designed to be cleaned and used again can spread infection and lead to the equipment failing during a procedure, it said.
The letter asks states and union territories to enforce the existing rules strictly in both government and private hospitals.
The directorate has not publicly named any hospital, and the letter as reported does not set out new penalties. Action against hospitals that keep reprocessing such items now rests with the state and union territory authorities it has written to.