Hyderabad, September 05: As per reports, eleven babies have lost their lives in just two days at the Government General Hospital at Kurnool in the state of Andhra Pradesh, allegedly owing to a faulty oxygen supply system.
Four babies died on August 31 accompanied by seven on September 01 at the administration-run hospital, around 180 km south of Hyderabad.
All the babies were just 5 days old, and admitted to the hospital for serious paediatric cases for cure.
Distraught parents said the infants died due to lack of oxygen supply through ventilators.
Mrs. Sunita, a grief-stricken mother from Parumaddala village stated a pipe, which passes oxygen to the neonatal ward was not functioning in the right manner.
She too her one-day-old baby to the hospital after the infant had some problems.
“I did not know I would have to carry back her lifeless body from here. I could not even see her because the staff kept me away from the incubator.”
The state government has asked for a full investigation into the fatalities.
State health minister DL Ravindra Reddy also said that a group of health functionaries had been fprwarded to Kurnool to determine the facts and suggest instant curative measures.
An IAS officer who visited the hospital on September 02 reportedly discovered that two of the four life support systems were not functioning.
The officer also detected that only about five nurses were on duty as against the requirement of about 25.
“The government will take action against anyone found guilty,” Reddy said.
While deeply agitated parents blamed the demises on clinical carelessness, physicians said the fatalities were “routine”.
–Agencies–