Delhi will never see a repeat of what happened in Gorakhpur: Jain

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met all the heads of Delhi government hospitals to take stock of condition of equipment and availability of medicines. This comes a week after the Gorakhpur incident where 60 children reportedly died for the want of oxygen.

On Monday, HT had reported that investigation into the 2012 incident at Sushruta trauma centre, where five people died because of the fluctuation in oxygen supply, is still pending.

“I can assure you what happened in Gorakhpur will not happen in Delhi,” said state health minister Satyendar Jain, adding that almost 90 – 95% of listed medicines were available in all Delhi government hospitals. The rest would also be made available shortly, he said.

The medical superintendents/ directors of the hospitals will also be given special powers to purchase medicines in case tenders fail due to lack of bidders.

In May, a report presented to the CM showed that less than 50% medicines were available in several Delhi government-run hospitals.

The minister also ensured that the supply of consumables such as syringes, bandages, gloves etc was also “normal”.

The government is also planning to launch a helpline number within days where people can register complaints. “The recordings of all calls will be monitored by the chief minister’s office daily,” said Jain.

The medical directors of all hospitals have been asked to repair equipment. “Also, we have now given all hospitals the power to purchase equipment worth ₹1 crore, without waiting for approvals from the state government,” said Jain.

The minister also mentioned that payments to all vendors were being done within 30 to 60 days of tender completion. In case of Gorakhpur, the oxygen supply had allegedly been interrupted because of non-payment of dues.