Jalandhar Civil Hospital: Action against officials for medical negligence

Jalandhar civil hospital s medical superintendent has been transferred and action against four others has been taken by the Punjab government in response to the death of an infant in the hospital last month. According to the inquiry committee s findings the medical staff were found negligent which led to the death of the infant. This news came to light when the infant was denied treatment because the child s parents could not pay a paltry sum of Rs.200. Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal ordered that three staff nurses and one emergency medical officer of the civil hospital be charge-sheeted, a health department spokesman said here.

All health officials have been held guilty for being negligent in performing their duty. A five-day-old infant died at the civil hospital after she was allegedly removed from the incubator Jalandhar civil hospital. The Punjab government had ordered inquiries by the district administration and the health department separately. Following the case coming to light, the Punjab government announced that all neo-natal services in government hospitals across the state would be free of cost.

The spokesman said that to prevent recurrence of such incidents and to improve child care in the state, 12 special new-born care units will be established during the year (2012-13). "Fifty new-born stabilisation units will also be set up in all the district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and community health centres to provide specialized care to the newborn," he added. He added that all user charges for newborn and their mothers have already been waived off.