Maharashtra govt to audit all district hospitals

After an inquiry report on the Bhandara district hospital, where 10 newborns were killed in a fire on January 9, revealed that the incident was avoidable with better preparation and coordination among the staff, the Maharashtra government has set up a committee to audit all district hospitals in the state.

All the district hospitals in the state will be subjected to health audit in 15 days through the state government. A committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Health Commissioner Dr. Ramaswamy and an action plan will be prepared after receiving his report.

An inquiry team, led by Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar to investigate the fire incident at Bhadara district hospital, has submitted a 55 page inquiry report on January 19.

As per the recommendation, Bhandara District Surgeon Dr. Pramod Khandate has been suspended for breach of duty, Additional District Surgeon Dr. Sunila Bade has been transferred to a non-executive post, Medical Officer Dr. Archana Meshram has been suspended, Nurse Jyoti Bharaskar and Pediatrician Dr. Sushil Ambade have been suspended, state health minister Rajesh Tope said.

Ten infants were killed after a fire engulfed the neonatal ICU and ward of the Bhandara district general hospital on January 9.

Reports suggest the inquiry found a baby warmer in the ward first caught fire owing to short-circuit and led to smoke filling up the entire Newborn Care Unit, which resulted in suffocation and subsequent death of seven kids. The other three infants died of burn injuries.

Inquiry report also points to the absence of hospital staff on duty that led to loss of crucial response time when the fire started. The report says that with promptness and better coordination among staff this tragic incident could have been avoided.

Besides that, better firefighting preparedness is needed at hospitals to avoid such events in future, the report said.

In response to an RTI query by activist Vikas Madankar had earlier revealed that the demand for funds, (Rs 1.5 crore) to install and upgrade fire-fighting systems in the Bhandara hospital had been pending awaiting clearance from authorities.

Health minister today said that a letter has been sent to all the Guardian Ministers to utilize the District Planning Development Committee to provision funds for health institutions.