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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Six kids die in Malda hospital

Six kids die in Malda hospital

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published Published on Sep 9, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 9, 2011

-The Telegraph

 

Six children, aged between four and 10 years, died at the Malda Medical College and Hospital in the past 24 hours amid allegations that they were not treated on time and were made to wait by the doctors on duty.

The hospital authorities, however, claimed that the children had been brought in very critical conditions. The Malda district magistrate has ordered an inquiry into the deaths at the hospital, which has been in the limelight for all wrong reasons of late.

While four children died yesterday, two breathed their last this morning.

Manjur Sheikh, a vegetable vendor from Sattari village in Englishbazar, was standing in the hospital clutching the body of his six-year-old son, Noor Sheikh.

“I had brought my son to the hospital at 6am with breathing problems. He was admitted to the children’s ward. No doctors came till 8am and my son died without receiving any treatment. I am poor and do not have the means to take my son to a private nursing home,” he lamented.

Amar Singh and his wife Dulali had come from Shahebganj, just across the Ganga, in neighbouring Jharkhand with their five-year-old daughter Shanti Kumari.

“We had heard that the hospital had become a medical college and thought our child would get better treatment. But we had a terrible experience. We had admitted our daughter yesterday evening as she was suffering from breathing problems. A doctor examined her later in the evening and said she would be better. But we lost her today morning,” said Amar.

Following the deaths of the four children, district magistrate Archana visited the hospital yesterday night and sat with principal Debashis Bhattacharya, chief medical officer of health Swapan Jhariat and hospital superintendent Himadri Anri.

“I have asked the chief medical officer of health and the hospital authorities to make a thorough inquiry and submit a report to me as soon as possible,” said Archana.

The principal said: “We are not saying that the children had died because of negligence on part of the doctors. But even then, we are going through the papers related to their treatment.”

According to the superintendent, most of the children were suffering from acute bronchial problems.

“They were admitted in a very critical condition and our doctors tried their best to cure them.”

The superintendent’s doubt is that infection might have caused the death of so many kids. Anri said four paediatricians were posted for the 60-bedded children’s ward.

“There are 72 children in the ward at present and 13 of them were brought today. As beds are shared by many children, there is a strong possibility of infection spreading. Parents bring their wards in a critical state and they expire in an hour or two. To give them specialised treatment, there is a need for an intensive care unit as well as a neo-natal unit. Our hospital has none of these facilities,” said Anri.

When asked about the mortality rate of children at the hospital, he said he would not be able to give the figure off hand without going through the records.

With the back-to-back deaths of the children, parents of other kids in the ward were quite a worried.

Namita Hembram said her four-year-old son had been undergoing treatment since Monday.

“He hasn’t yet recovered from fever. The doctors have been saying that he will soon get well. I have spent over Rs 3,000 since Monday and I am now nervous as so many children are dying here. I will wait for a day and if he does not get better, I will take him away,” she said.

Bengal minister for women and child development Sabitri Mitra said over phone from Calcutta that she had asked the district magistrate to make an inquiry.

“I have heard about the deaths. I am very worried about the incidents that are taking place at the district hospital one after another. People lose faith in the state’s healthcare because of such incidents. I have told the chief medical officer of health to see to it that doctors are coming in time and asked him to see that there is no negligence,” she said.

Mitra is the Trinamul Congress MLA from Manikchak and also the chairperson of the hospital executive committee.

On August 28, the father of a newborn baby filed a complaint with the Englishbazar police that his child had been bitten to death by ants in an incubator. The hospital authorities exhumed the baby’s body and sent it for post-mortem to determine the cause of death. The autopsy report is yet to be submitted.

The next day, the state health authorities suspended an orthopaedist attached to the hospital in connection with an incident on August 22 when the decapitated lower limbs of a train accident victim was found wrapped in a blood-stained cloth and placed in his head.


The Telegraph, 9 September, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110909/jsp/siliguri/story_14483746.jsp


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