The abysmal condition of the health services in the State has come to fore again on Thursday when a newborn and its mother died in Doon Female Hospital allegedly due to medical negligence. The near ones of the deceased created a ruckus in the hospital, demanding action against those they held responsible for the death.
The relatives of the deceased Sucheta (27) claimed that the baby had been delivered on the floor of the hospital due to the negligence of the doctors and other staff members. They said that the staffers of the hospital had turned a deaf ear to their repeated requests to cater to the mother and new born baby. The ruckus they created after the death of the mother and the baby made the hospital administration to set up a three- member inquiry committee to probe the matter. Shockingly enough, the in-charge ( MS) of the female hospital arrived very late in the hospital.
Ramesh Singh, a resident of Chinyalisaud of Uttarkashi district, had admitted his seven month pregnant wife Sucheta in Doon Hospital on September 15. Singh who works as a labourer in Mussoorie alleged that the Sucheta had not been given any bed by the hospital authorities. “She was forced to sleep on the floor of the hospital corridor,” he said that the brother of the deceased Makan Singh said that on examining her, the doctors had said that there would be a normal delivery after two months. “However, in the wee hours of Thursday, the condition of Sucheta deteriorated after which she gave birth to a baby on the floor of the hospital. Things were such that the baby fell into a drain. When we raised alarm the hospital staff took Sucheta and her baby to the labour room and after over two hours, we were informed of the deaths of both,” he said.
Quizzed over the matter, the Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of female hospital Dr Meenakshi Joshi said that she has set up a three-member inquiry committee comprising Dr Chitra Joshi, Dr N S Jha and Dr Satish Dhasmana. She assured that strict punitive action would be taken against the staffs if they are found guilty of dereliction of duties.
