NEEIF Foundation  |  Section 8 Company

Healing the System.
One Right at a Time.

India's Charter of Patients Rights exists on paper. We are making it real — through mystery audits, policy advocacy, and a national network of healthcare reformers.

Our Mission Meet Our Fellows Get Involved
17 Patient Rights in
India's Charter
0 Rights gazette notified
or enforced
50 Founding Fellows
being inducted
10+ Fellows inducted
so far
The Institution

NEEIF Foundation

NEEIF Foundation is a Section 8 not-for-profit company registered in India. It is the legal and institutional backbone of everything we do — from formal government engagement and policy advocacy to research, certification, and governance of our audit framework.

NEEIF stands for National Empathy and Ethics Infrastructure Framework. It is India's national standard for empathy, ethics, and patient dignity.

The Movement

Changemakers: Healing the System

Changemakers: Healing the System is our public movement — the community of healthcare professionals, patient advocates, and reformers who believe that dignity in healthcare is not a privilege but a right.

Through mystery audits, the Charter series, RTI filings, and a growing network of Fellows, Changemakers is the face of reform that patients and hospitals both recognize.

Two names. One mission.

What We Do

Three pillars. One purpose.

Every action NEEIF Foundation takes falls under one of three pillars. Together they form a complete system for change.

🔍

Audit

Mystery audits using the Patient-First Approach (PFA) — 120 parameters across three domains, scoring hospitals on empathy, ethics, and patient dignity. The HDCS scoring system produces a 240-point assessment that no existing framework replicates.

📋

Advocacy

The Charter of Patients Rights series, RTI filings with MoHFW, and direct engagement with QCI, NITI Aayog, and the Parliamentary Standing Committee. We are building the case for gazette notification and enforcement of patient rights.

🤝

Action

A national network of 50 Founding Fellows, three active committees, conference presence at FICCI HEAL 2026, and partnerships with nursing associations, medical colleges, and CSR teams. Reform requires a community.

Why It Matters

Rights on paper. Zero enforcement.

India's MoHFW issued a Charter of Patients Rights. Our RTI filing confirmed what patients already know.

Not notified The Charter has never been gazette notified — making it legally unenforceable.
No mechanism No enforcement mechanism exists anywhere in India for patient rights violations.
No data No complaint data is maintained. No tribunal forums. No Health Ombudsman proposed.
No circulars Not a single circular has ever been issued to states on Charter compliance.

"We are not anti-hospital. We are pro-patient. The system can heal — but only if we build the tools to measure it."

The Founders

Different paths. One shared mandate.

We came together from different corners of healthcare around one belief: patients in India have rights on paper and almost none in practice. Together we bring operational insight, continuity thinking, and clinical perspective to the work of making healthcare more accountable to patients.

Jamela Siddiqui

Jamela Siddiqui

Co-Founder

Healthcare Operations Strategist and Mystery Auditor. Creator of the Patient-First Approach (PFA). Author of The Sanctuary Mandate. Brings the patient's lived experience and the auditor's eye to every room she enters.

LinkedIn Profile
Dhirendra Dash

Dhirendra Dash

Co-Founder

Healthcare Continuum Specialist with CarePath Continuum. Brings a continuity-of-care lens that connects every hand-off, setting, and experience across the patient journey. Ensures no patient falls through the gaps the system creates.

LinkedIn Profile
Dr. Misbahuddin Habeeb

Dr. Misbahuddin Habeeb

Co-Founder

Emergency Medicine Physician, MRCEM London. Brings frontline clinical judgment and an acute understanding of how systems succeed or fail in moments that matter most — when a patient walks through the door in crisis.

LinkedIn Profile
Our Network

Founding Fellows

The first 50 Fellows of NEEIF Foundation are its Founding Fellows — permanent members of a movement that is redefining what accountable healthcare looks like in India.

Founding Fellow 10 of 50
RG
Dr. Ravi Gaur
Healthcare Leader
India
AK
Adarsh Koppula
Healthcare Professional
India
AT
Aruna Tripathi-Dubey
Healthcare Professional
India
MV
Meena Valecha
Healthcare Professional
India
MM
Dr. Manjunath M T
Healthcare Professional
India
HA
Haresh Ahuja
Healthcare Professional
India
SP
Dr. Shishir Patel
Healthcare Professional
India
F8
Fellow — August 15
Healthcare Professional
India
F9
Fellow — August 15
Healthcare Professional
India
F10
Fellow — August 15
Healthcare Professional
India
Interested in becoming a Fellow?
Charter of Patients Rights

17 rights. Published one Sunday at a time.

India's MoHFW Charter of Patients Rights lists 17 rights. Most patients have never heard of them. Most hospitals do not display them. We are changing that — one right at a time, every Sunday, until all 17 have been named, explained, and demanded.

Right #1
Right to Information
Every patient has the right to complete information about their diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #2
Right to Records and Reports
Access to all medical records and reports without denial or unreasonable delay.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #3
Right to Emergency Medical Care
No patient can be denied emergency care regardless of ability to pay.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #4
Right to Informed Consent
No procedure without the patient's free, prior, and informed consent.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #5
Confidentiality, Dignity and Privacy
Every patient's personal information and dignity must be protected at all times.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #6
Right to Second Opinion
Every patient has the right to seek a second medical opinion without penalty.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #7
Right to Non-Discrimination
Healthcare cannot be withheld or diminished based on caste, religion, gender, or ability to pay.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #8
Right to Safety and Quality Care
Patients have a right to safe, standard, and quality healthcare at all times.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #9
Right to Alternative Treatment / AYUSH
Patients may choose alternative treatment systems including AYUSH without being denied care.
Published this Sunday
Right #10
Right to Choose Source of Medicines
No hospital can force a patient to buy medicines only from their in-house pharmacy.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #11
Coming Soon
Publishing every Sunday until all 17 rights are covered.
Upcoming
Right #12
Coming Soon
Publishing every Sunday until all 17 rights are covered.
Upcoming
Right #13
Coming Soon
Publishing every Sunday until all 17 rights are covered.
Upcoming
Right #14
Right to Take Discharge / Receive Body
No hospital can withhold a patient or body pending payment settlement.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #15
Coming Soon
Publishing every Sunday until all 17 rights are covered.
Upcoming
Right #16
Right to be Heard
Every patient has the right to file a complaint and receive a response.
Published
Read on LinkedIn ↗
Right #17
Coming Soon
The final right in the series. Publishing soon.
Upcoming
Our Work

Active on three fronts.

Mystery Audit and Patient-First Approach

The Patient-First Approach (PFA) is a proprietary mystery audit methodology that evaluates hospitals across 120 parameters in three domains — communication, dignity, and process. The HDCS scoring system produces a maximum 240-point assessment.

Unlike NABH, our audit is conducted covertly by trained assessors who experience the hospital as a patient does. The gap between what hospitals claim and what patients experience is where the real data lives.

  • 120-parameter evaluation framework
  • HDCS scoring — maximum 240 points
  • 5 certified assessors in training
  • Standards Manual v1.0 in development

RTI Filing — MoHFW

We filed an RTI with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the Charter of Patients Rights. Seven questions. Seven answers confirming the enforcement gap.

Charter NOT gazette notified. No enforcement mechanism exists. No tribunal forums established anywhere in India. No state compliance data maintained. No complaint data. No circulars ever issued. No Health Ombudsman proposed.

Government and Institutional Engagement Proposed

  • MoHFW Joint Secretary (Quality) — target engagement
  • Quality Council of India (QCI) — partnership discussions
  • NITI Aayog — policy alignment
  • Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health
  • FICCI HEAL 2026 (November) — conference presence

Partnerships and Alliances Proposed

  • ORDI — rare diseases patient advocacy
  • TNAI — nursing association partnership
  • Medical colleges — curriculum engagement
  • CSR teams — corporate social responsibility alignment
  • Pilot hospitals — up to 5 partner hospitals in first phase

Communications and Media Proposed

  • LinkedIn Newsletter: The Patient Rights Letter
  • Annual State of Patient Rights Report (Month 6)
  • IANS press releases planned
  • Charter series — 17 rights, published every Sunday
Media and Recognition

The work is being noticed.

Foundation
August 15, 2026

NEEIF Foundation Approved

MCA approves NEEIF Foundation as a Section 8 not-for-profit company. India's national standard for empathy, ethics, and patient dignity is now a legal entity.

More milestones being added as NEEIF Foundation grows.

Get Involved

Join the movement.

Whether you are a healthcare professional, a patient advocate, a hospital leader, or a policy maker — there is a place for you in this work.

Reach Us

✉
Write to Us info@neeif.com