Check a Clinic, Lab or Hospital Is Licensed by the Sindh Healthcare Commission
Every clinic, lab and hospital in Sindh must hold a Sindh Healthcare Commission licence. See the three public lists, what each stage means and who to call.
Short answer: To check a clinic, lab or hospital in Sindh, look for its Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHCC) licence on display, then search the SHCC lists of registered, provisional licence and regular licence establishments. Call the SHCC helpline 0800 07422 if the name is not there. Under the SHCC Act 2013, every healthcare establishment in Sindh must be licensed.
A clean waiting room and a doctor's coat do not tell you whether a clinic is allowed to treat people. In Sindh the regulator is the Sindh Healthcare Commission. It keeps public lists, and it can seal places that run without permission.
We opened the SHCC website and its licensing, registration, complaints and anti-quackery pages on 12 October 2026. We did not search any list for a named clinic, and we cannot say that any particular place is licensed or not.
Every clinic, lab and hospital in Sindh must hold an SHCC licence
The SHCC FAQ says all healthcare establishments in Sindh, public and private, must obtain a licence from the Commission. It defines an establishment as a hospital, diagnostic centre, clinic, nursing home, maternity home, dental clinic, tibb or homeopathic clinic, physiotherapy clinic, or any premises or vehicle used for healthcare.
Registration comes first. Under section 13 of the SHCC Act, a provider must not offer healthcare services without being registered. The Commission says it issues a certificate of registration within 30 days of accepting an application. A licence follows after that.
| Stage | What SHCC says it means |
|---|---|
| Registration | Enrolment of the establishment with SHCC so it can be licensed |
| Provisional licence | Issued to a registered establishment after its form is found correct, while it works to meet the standards |
| Regular licence | Issued after inspection shows the establishment meets the Sindh Service Delivery Standards |
SHCC publishes lists you can search before you book
The SHCC website has three public lists: registered establishments, establishments with a provisional licence and establishments with a regular licence. They are PDF files. Open the list, search the file for the clinic name and its area, and note which list it appears in.
The file addresses show that the two licence lists were uploaded in May 2025. We could not find a date printed on the lists themselves. A clinic licensed after that may be missing, and a licence may have lapsed since. So a missing name is a reason to ask, not proof of wrongdoing.
- Open shcc.org.pk and go to Registration and Licensing.
- Choose the list: registered, provisional licence or regular licence.
- Search the file for the clinic name, then match the address.
- Ask the clinic to show the licence on its premises.
- Call 0800 07422 to confirm if you cannot find the name.
A regular licence must be displayed where patients can see it
SHCC says an establishment that holds a regular licence must display it at a prominent point where patients, staff and visitors can see it. A properly displayed licence is a formal requirement. If you cannot see one, you may ask the reception where it is.
The licence names the kind of establishment it covers. A clinic licensed as a dental clinic should not be doing surgery. If the board outside promises services that the licence does not mention, that is worth raising with SHCC.
Check the doctor too. A licensed building does not make every person inside qualified. Our guide to checking a doctor is registered with PMDC takes about two minutes.
SHCC says it sealed hundreds of unlicensed outlets in 2025
SHCC's annual report for 2025, released on 23 January 2026, says it registered 283 establishments, issued 663 provisional and 48 regular licences, and held 3,251 anti-quackery drives. The report text says 2,114 outlets were sealed. The headline on the same page says 1,587, so the two figures differ.
The report also says SHCC sealed outlets and filed FIRs in HIV affected areas of Karachi and Shaheed Benazirabad. Our report on the Karachi HIV outbreak traced to one hospital covers the Valika case. We do not link any single outlet to any single case here.
SHCC estimates, using a figure it attributes to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, that more than 600,000 quacks work across Pakistan and about 200,000 of them in Sindh. We could not confirm that number at source and give it as SHCC's estimate only.
What to do if a place is not on any list
Do not take treatment, injections or drips there if you have a choice. Then report it. SHCC runs an Anti-Quackery directorate and a complaints directorate. The website carries complaint forms for patients, for establishments and for providers, and a helpline.
For a complaint about care you already received, the steps are in our guide to complaining against a hospital or doctor in Sindh. Keep the prescription, receipt, report and photos of the premises.
If you live in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the equivalent check is in our guide to checking a clinic, lab or hospital is licensed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Common questions
What is the SHCC helpline number?
The SHCC website lists 0800 07422 and the email info@shcc.org.pk. We read both on its home page on 12 October 2026.
Is a registered clinic the same as a licensed clinic?
No. Registration comes first, then a provisional licence, then a regular licence after inspection. A clinic in the registered list may not yet hold a licence.
Does a provisional licence mean the clinic is unsafe?
Not by itself. SHCC says a provisional licence is issued while the establishment works to meet the standards and prepares for inspection. A regular licence is the higher stage.
Are government hospitals covered?
Yes. The SHCC FAQ says establishments in both the public and private sectors must be licensed. The 2025 report says 135 licences went to public establishments.
Can I file a complaint against an unlicensed clinic?
Yes. SHCC's website has complaint forms for patients and a complaints process that runs from registration of the complaint to review, investigation and a board decision.
Does this apply in Karachi and Hyderabad?
It applies across Sindh, because the SHCC Act is a provincial law. Islamabad and the other provinces have their own regulators.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
We read the pages of the Sindh Healthcare Commission on registration, types of licences, complaints, anti-quackery and the 2025 annual report on 12 October 2026. We did not read the fee schedule PDFs, so we state no fees. The licence lists carry an upload date of May 2025 and may be out of date.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
