Even as the city witnessed events to mark World Population Day and stressed on women’s health and girl child on Monday, three incidents of alleged medical negligence rocked government hospitals in the capital.
In the first incident, a pregnant woman, Deepa, 20, admitted to the Ambedkar Hospital in Sector 6, Rohini, on Sunday night, died on Monday morning before giving birth to the child. The relatives of the deceased started shouting and allegedly beat up a guard. The police rushed to the scene on getting information and intervened to control the situation.
“The doctors told me to arrange blood and surgical gloves, we brought every thing they demanded immediately. But no doctor was there to look after my daughter-in-law,” said Ram Dulare, the father-in-law of the deceased.
Few hours after the incident, another pregnant woman, Suman, 28, was brought to the hospital. But the hospital administration denied her admission saying that there no more beds were available. In the meantime, Suman went into labour and finally gave birth to her child in front of the hospital building. The public started shouting on the administration and then she was taken inside and provided a bed.
“The administration told us that there are no beds so I rushed to hire an autorickshaw to take my wife to another hospital. But she went into labour and gave birth to a child outside the hospital. She was bleeding profusely. The public at the scene then forced the hospital to admit her,” said Suman’s husband Santosh.
Another case was reported from the Sushruta Trauma Centre in Kashmere Gate on Monday morning when two women and three men staffers of MCD were rushed there after a road mishap. One woman Phoolvati, 55, was seriously injured. The doctors sent her for an X-ray but no employee was present in the X-ray department. She died in the X-ray room. The kin of the deceased pelted stones and broke windowpanes. “She was crying in pain but no employee was present. Meanwhile, she died,” said Chhaya, a relative. The authorities at both hospitals remained tight-lipped over the incidents.