Kathmandu, Dec. 4 -- The Curative Service Division under the Department of Health Services has warned private hospitals and nursing homes that their licences won't be renewed if they continued ignoring the rules to provide 10 percent beds and other services for free to the poor and needy patients.

Rural municipalities, municipalities, sub-metropolitan cities, metropolitan cities, local health facilities and district public health offices are authorised to define poor people and issue them recommendation letters for free medical treatment.

The warning of the division comes after documents furnished by most of the private hospitals and nursing homes for renewing their licences showed they had been flouting the government rules.

"We also ...