Saima Bhat
October 10, 2012
Srinagar
A committee on the unprecedented neonatal deaths in the Valley lone children’s (GB Pant) hospital presented its report in the Legislative assembly on Wednesday. The committee was constituted by the Speaker on the recommendations of some lawmakers based on media reports highlighting increasing number of infant deaths in the hospital.
The committee comprised of 16 lawmakers from state including Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan as its chairman while Director SKIMS was made Inquiry Officer. The compiled report of 32 pages was drafted after six meetings of the committee. The final report was presented before the house on October 10, 2012 by the committee’s chairman.
The compiled report shows that there were a number of reasons for the increased number of deaths in the hospital. Dr S A Zargar, director SKIMS has reported in his report that the poor sanitary arrangements causing infections to the neonates, administering of spurious drugs, impact of ‘Drug mafia’ in and around hospital, un-necessary admissions, continuous use of disposable gas pipes of ventilators for months together, poor watch and ward on part of the hospital administration and the faculty, visible dust over the life supportive machines, insufficient space to accommodate the high referrals and admissions, non availability of trained neonatologists and nurses in the hospitals and most importantly dual control of the civil administration and the cantonment authorities over the hospital are some of the reason for the death of infants in the hospital which needs to be revised.
The compiled report also includes 52 recommendations under four sections for government/health and medical education department, government medical college, Srinagar, G B Panth hospital administration and for the food and drug control department.
The report says that there is an immediate need to establish a new “State of the Art’ pediatric hospital, with maternity services, with a minimum bed capacity of 300 beds. Otherwise the earlier children’s hospital had a capacity of 175 beds and the present hospital has a capacity of 135 beds only which has resulted in the increased occupancy rate of hospital to 200%.
It has been also recommended in the report that there is a need to establish Sick New born Care Unites (SNCUs) under NRHM at various secondary care levels. And it has been also ensured that the prescriptions of medicines should be given by the trade names of the medicines instead of the generic names which otherwise result in the exploitation by the pharmaceutical agencies or drug mafias.
The committee has also given a recommendation of banning the private practice of all doctors working in teaching hospitals.
The set committee was directed to examine the issue and submit its recommendations, observations and directions to the government for their immediate implementation, to restore the credibility and faith of the general masses in medical institutions of the state.
