Infant’s death: Probe against pvt hospital

NOIDA: A day after a man narrated his ordeal on a video while cradling his newborn’s body and calling out the laxity of the state’s health care system, officials of the health department held a private hospital responsible.

According to the chief medical officer (CMO), while the probe is going on, the preliminary investigation showed that a private speciality hospital in Noida did not follow certain protocols, leading to the death of the newborn.

“Three major lapses were found on the part of the private hospital where the family took the newborn. The baby had breathing issues and thus was put on the ventilator; however, when his father said that he could not afford the treatment, the private hospital did not provide a proper referral slip or an ambulance with a functional ventilator,” CMO Dr Deepak Ohri said.

He said after the police called 108 and asked for an ambulance, due to a lack of referral and medical staff, the ambulance driver did not know where to go and took the baby to the Dadri Community Health Centre (CHC).

“Dadri CHC referred him to the Government Hospital, Noida, which referred him to Child PGI at Sector 30. However, the baby died before reaching the hospital,” Ohri said.

He said that the two officials are already investigating the case and will take action against the hospital. When asked about the ambulance delay, issues with the oxygen cylinder and the poor role of the government hospitals as alleged by the father, Ohri said that they are yet to be ascertained.

On Tuesday, Prem Kumar, a resident of Noida Sector 36, was made to go from one government hospital to another to get his newborn treated. The distraught father said he had to wait for two hours for an ambulance to arrive and was made to go to three government hospitals with the unwell baby. The newborn was declared dead on arrival the Child PGI, on Tuesday morning.