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| G.B. Pant hospital mess must end before it messes peace | | | early times report
Srinagar, May 21: The alarming number of neonatal mortalities in G.B.Pant hospital has stirred up a public debate in addition to shock and anger in the Valley.
What added fuel to fire were the remarks made by R.S. Chib, Minister for Medical Education in reply to a question about these deaths. The minister while accepting that 45 deaths had taken place in the hospital from May 1 to May 14 said there was nothing abnormal about the infant mortality rate of the hospital where 368 children had died from January 1 to May 15.
Perhaps the minister had been advised by his specialist doctors that the rate of mortality was 'normal' otherwise he would have thought thrice before making such a comment. It is no doubt a fact that Srinagar city has just one hospital to cater to the flow of child patients. It is also a fact that sometimes infants are treated at scores of private maternity homes and after the condition of the new born deteriorates at those places the sick child is referred to G.B. Pant hospital. This is a matter of fact and also needs to be said while we try to fix responsibility about the deaths of children at the hospital during the last five months.
And yet, nobody can argue with reason that deaths of the new born at the hospital must be accepted because the Valley has just one such hospital to cater to thousands of children falling sick after birth.
In any civilized society even a single new born death is unacceptable and cannot be justified by saying encephalitis has mortality rate as high as 98% in children. When a minister says something like that the shock and anger of the parents and the attendants is quite understandable. The Chief Minister visited the hospital and assured that the situation has been grave at the hospital and steps had been initiated to make a material change in the functioning of the hospital.
Blame games are always usual for politicians to claim political mileage. Interestingly those blame games have already started, But, these would not serve the patients at the hospital nor would such blame games help improve the childcare facilities at the hospital.
The hospital is jointly controlled by the Srinagar medical college and the Badami Bagh cantonment board. While the medical superintendent is deputed to the hospital by the State Medical Education department through the office of the Principal, Srinagar Medical College and the deputy superintendent is deputed by the cantonment board.
There is credible information to suggest that the ousted medical superintendent and the deputy superintendent have been working at cross purpose at the hospital which has added to the mess. There is shortage of nursing staff, ventilator machines and allied equipment at the hospital. Just three ventilators are there for so many patients who are admitted for indoor care at the hospital.
Enough precious young and budding lives have been already lost and it is high time everybody stopped taking political mileage out of this human tragedy. The State Government is already on notice and time is running short for the state government to put the hospital's house in order. More casualties at the hospital could spell disaster not only for the families who become victims of the tragedy, but also for those who are responsible to have the mess sorted out there.
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