Even after the death of around 36 infants, the condition at B.C. Roy Memorial Hospital for Children continued to be vulnerable on Sunday. Four more newborn deaths were reported in the span of 24-hours, taking the overall toll to 40.
Task force chairman Tridib Banerjee, however, blamed the reference of almost dead newborns from other hospitals for the bulging situation at the hospital. He further claimed that taking care of each and every baby was difficult because of the inadequate number of nurses at the hospital.
The Mamata Banerjee government had set up this task force in 2011 following a spate of baby deaths in hospitals across the state.
“There is a tendency of other hospitals to send sick newborns here, which increases the number of newborn deaths. Thus, the doctors and the nurses are unable to tackle the swelling number of babies. In some cases, doctors send newborns just before issuing death certificates,” said Dr Banerjee.
From September 3 to Sunday afternoon, the hospital has witnessed the death of around 40 babies. But a large number of babies are brought from far-off places in very critical or dying condition.