On Wednesday, the Kerala state assembly framed the minimum standards required for each category of a healthcare institution in the state, as prescribed in the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2018. The KCE Act 2018 was passed by the State Legislature as a major step to ensure quality standards of treatment, transparency, and accountability in the functioning of healthcare establishments.

Ms. Veena George, the state health minister, stated that two necessary amendments to the KCE Act were considered and presented as the KCE Act Second Amendment Bill 2022 before the House. The first amendment was regarding the extension of the validity of the temporary registration from four years to four years and six months, whereas the second amendment was about retaining the provision in Section 51 (1) that any notifications in the official gazette to remove any hurdles in the implementation of the Act had to be issued within two years. The government wants to extend this time frame to four years. According to KCE Act S 19(2), a healthcare establishment securing temporary registration from the KCE Council should have applied for permanent registration at least 60 days before the validity of the temporary registration expires.

She stated that once the proposed amendments are incorporated into the Act, all clinical establishments that have secured temporary registration under the KCE Council can apply for permanent registration before March 2023.