Under fire for mismanagement and insensitivity on the issue of infant deaths in a Kota hospital, the Rajasthan government on Tuesday removed the superintendent of the hospital
The government removed Dr SC Dulara, superintendent of JK Lon hospital and Dr Amrit Lal Bairwa, head of the Paediatrics department. Dr Ashok Mundhra, head of the Forensic Medicine department, was appointed as the new hospital superintendent and Dr Amrita Mayangar was appointed as head of the Paediatrics department.
After assuming his new office on Tuesday evening, Dr Mundhra said he would work to improve the facilities in the hospital. “We will try to solve problems related to lack of infrastructure and equipment, shortage of wards and beds and cleanliness in the hospital. We will try to provide good care to mothers and infants,” he said.
Last Thursday, nine infants between one and seven days old had died at the hospital. While the BJP attacked the government and said 17 infants had died but the administration was hiding the real figure, the state human rights commission and child rights commission also took cognizance of the matter and rapped the government.
The government took action against Dulara for laxity. The expert committee that was sent by the government found that a 12 bed pediatric ICU was ready for a few weeks but had not been started. After the deaths of the infants, the ICU was started overnight. The committee also found that warmers and incubators that were broken were not fixed and maintenance of equipment was poor.
Dr Bairwa who was head of the paediatrics department was held responsible for laxity on part of doctors. The Committee interacted with parents who said doctors were negligent and unresponsive and did not attend to patients despite being requested.
Meanwhile, two teams of experts, one from Udaipur and one from Jaipur, have also reached the hospital and will guide the hospital on improving the organization in the hospital.
Dr Lakhan Poswal, principal of RNT in Udaipur met the Kota Medical College principal and other doctors and officials in JK Lon hospital which is attached to the medical college. A team of technical experts comprising Dr KK Pareek and Dr Dheeraj Sharma from SMS hospital in Jaipur also met the hospital officials and will give recommendations on how to improve treatment and facilities.
Last December, the Congress government had come under fire after 107 infants had died in a span of 35 days at the hospital. It led to a public outcry against the crumbling health infrastructure in the state.
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