Sindh

The Sindh Healthcare Commission Act, 2013 (the SHCC Act) was enacted with the object and purpose of establishing the Sindh Healthcare Commission (the Commission), i.e., an autonomous body corporate that serves to manage and maintain the standard of healthcare services and hinder dishonest practices among medical professionals in Sindh.[1] The SHCC Act applies to all healthcare institutions, including both public and private hospitals, non-profit organizations, charity-based hospitals, trust-operated hospitals, as well as semi-governmental and autonomous healthcare entities.[2] The SHCC Act defines “Medical Negligence” as a case where a patient sustains injury or dies as a result of improper treatment in a healthcare establishment, as determined on the basis of a medical autopsy report.[3] The SHCC Act empowers the Commission to suspend the licenses of healthcare establishments in Sindh in the event that repeated instances of medical negligence have been proved against them.[4] The SHCC Act provides for two scenarios where the Commission may determine that a healthcare service provider has committed medical negligence i.e., (i) the concerned healthcare establishment lacks the necessary human resources and equipment which it claims to possess; and (ii) any of the concerned healthcare establishment’s employees fail to exercise minimum service delivery standards prescribed by the government.[5] The SHCC Act provides a safeguard to medical practitioners whose patients may face injury or death in the proper course of their work by clearly stipulating that the recognized and known complications of a medical or surgical treatment are not considered medical negligence.[6] The SHCC Act empowers the Commission to investigate instances of maladministration, malpractice,…