Doctors to register in NMC to baffle malpractice

All the doctors in the country should now register with the NMC (National Medical Commission) besides registering with the state medical councils and the data will be amended in the NMR (National Medical Register) - a central repository of information about all the medical practitioners in the country. Doctors are informed to provide their basic details about the medical qualification, Specialty, Year of passing, University and the name of the institute graduated and the place of work (Name of the Hospital/ Institute).

As per the notification issued by the Centre, the NMR will be available on the website of NMC and will be accessible to all. All Existing Medical Practitioners enrolled in Indian Medical Register or State Medical Register, not having the registration number as per the Regulation (Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine Regulations, 2023) shall update in the web portal of the EMRB (Ethics and Medical Registration Board) within a period of 3 months of publishing of this regulation and obtain the registration number as a one-time measure and the licence generated will be valid for 5 years from the issued date. No fee will be charged for the licence updation of such a medical practitioner.

The government order had mixed responses, few doctors welcomed the move as it helps in creating a centralized repository of information about doctors in the country whereas the rest felt it involves more paperwork. The major aspect of registration with the NMC is the creation of the Unique Identification of all doctors (UID). 

Dr.S K Sarin, Vice-Chancellor of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) appreciated this proposal and that it was mooted in 2010 and a UID was to be launched. The ID should be lifelong and every new degree or ethical issue should be reflected on it. 

Dr. Manish Jangra, founder of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) mentioned all medical practitioners were anyway required to register with the state medical councils and NMC could seek relevant information from them. Mandating doctors to register with NMC will complicate the process further and may harm the autonomy of state councils. Also, reaching the NMC for the redressal of complaints is not easy.

 Dr. Arun Gupta, President of Delhi Medical Council, said they already have the provision for licence renewal to practice in 5 years. There are some states which do not have this provision and certainly, this notification will bring uniformity in the whole process. Also, information availability about the credentials of doctors will help in removing malpractices.

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