10 deaths raise a burning query: how good is Safdarjung burns ward?

The last to pass away was 20-year-old Ashish Kumar Shrivastava on Thursday afternoon. He had suffered 40 per cent burns,according to the hospital’s list outside the ward. His father Pramod Singh said: “My son has been killed. He was eating well,walking and even joked with us till the evening before he died. The nurse gave him an injection around 7 pm on Wednesday. He immediately complained of pain. They gave him another injection next morning and he was dead by afternoon.” Singh was waiting for Ashish’s postmortem report on Friday.

The family of another injured,Uday Bhan — who is now the only one alive — is restless. Father Ramdhyan Singh said: “He has 50 per cent burns. He is recovering but we are worried after Ashish’s sudden passing.”

Burn victims have a high mortality rate,but it is expected that those with 40 to 70 per cent burns can be cured.

It is also understood that the recommendations of a court-appointed committee several years ago — to improve facilities in the burn wards of premier government hospitals — have not reportedly been followed.

The committee was constituted by the High Court after lawyer Meera Bhatia moved it following death of her daughter from burn injuries in 1996. She drew the court’s attention to “neglect of burns patients in government hospitals”. Bhatia was part of the court tcommittee

The committee was to inspect facilities in burns wards of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital,Safdarjung Hospital,Lok Nayak Hospital and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital. Safdarjung Hospital was asked to state their requirements for a world-class burns ward.

Though medical superintendent Dr Prasad said Ashish’s burns were “more than 40 per cent”,Meera Bhatia detailed a few things that are ailing Safdarjung Hospital. She said: “When a patient undergoes treatment in a hospital but dies after the first two days of injury,it is called an institutional death. This is one of the biggest referral centres for burn injuries but the mortality rate is appalling. There are no super-specialty burn centres in Delhi. The hospital uses primitive methods. It does not give intensive care to those who need it. Those with lesser burns are put in the intensive care unit instead.”

RECOMMENDATIONS
* Air curtains and dust catching doormats for ICU and dressing station entry points — the burns ward does not have these provisions
* Direct communication linkage (ISDN/LAN) between the four hospitals — NOT COMPLIED
* Use of quality linen (blanket and sheets); change twice daily — NOT COMPLIED
Standard air circulation/temperature monitoring — NOT COMPLIED

In view of non-availability of burns & plastic specialists,committee has asked for short intensive training for general surgeons to provide burn care on a rotatory basis under the surgery department — NOT COMPLIED
* Special training in burns care for nurses and paramedical staff at Safdarjung — NOT COMPLIED
* Duty roster of all doctors caring for burns patients to be prominently exhibited on a notice board — NOT COMPLIED
* Coordination between CPWD and hospital administration for better maintenance of electrical and civil works in the hospitals — NOT COMPLIED

CURRENT STATUS
* Persons with severe burns put in general ward,as a ‘given up case’,while patients with lesser burns admitted in ICU,as survival chances are high
* Burns are overrated to make death look inevitable
* Hospital staff wander around in wards wearing shoes despite it being a high-infection zone
* Toilets stink; bedsheets are stained and dirty
* No dignity: Female patients made to strip for bandaging; nocurtains or partitions in general ward
* Saline bath non-functional