24 deaths in as many hours in govt hospital in Maharashtra’s Nanded; probe ordered

In a statement issued by the hospital, among the adult patients who died, there were four cases of heart disease, one case of poisoning, one case of gastric disease, two cases of kidney disease, one case of obstetric complications and three cases of accidents. Among the child patients, four were in a terminal stage and were referred from private hospitals.

“In recent days, more critical patients, especially those in terminal stages, have been arriving from district and other areas. The dedicated medical team and staff are diligently attending to their needs. This medical college and hospital have a longstanding history of providing excellent services to the community, and all admitted patients are receiving the necessary care,” reads the statement.

A doctor from the hospital said, “While our capacity is 600 beds, at present we have over 800 patients admitted. We are the sole tertiary-care hospital in the district and we often receive patients in critical condition.”

In Mumbai, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed the fatalities “unfortunate” and declared a thorough investigation into the incident, even as the Opposition criticised the state government over the condition of public health facilities in the state.

Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif said that he will visit the hospital on Tuesday and senior officials have been instructed to conduct a thorough inquiry. “Based on the report, further action will be decided. Seven deaths were of critical patients. Two were due to snake bite and poisoning. I have asked our director to visit Nanded. I will also be going there. Inquiry has been ordered,” he said.

Former CM and senior Congress MLA Ashok Chavan demanded immediate action to save 70 seriously ill patients admitted in the hospital, which is named after his father and former CM, late Shankarrao Chavan.

“The situation in the hospital is worrisome. No new appointments have been made to the vacancies of the nurses who were transferred. Doctors need to be recruited. Money from the District Planning Committee is yet to get technical approval, leaving the hospital in financial distress. The hospital presently has 1,200 patients while the capacity is 500,” said Chavan after visiting the hospital.

Chavan also alleged that the as payment for the maintenance of CT-scan and other equipment was pending, the contractor has stopped the services. However, the hospital statement said, “The hospital has a supply of vital medications, and for the ongoing fiscal year, it received Rs 12 crore in funding, with an extra Rs 4 crore granted.”

Chavan mentioned that he has directed the administration to take help of private doctors if needed to save lives of 70 critical patients.

The former CM said that he has spoken over phone to Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar and Nanded guardian minister Girish Mahajan to improve the situation. “I don’t want to play politics in it. The guilty will come to light after the inquiry. But if the state government does not act and improve the situation, the people’s anger will spill over,” he said.

Slamming the state government, Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut demanded the resignation of health minister Tanaji Sawant. “A couple of months ago similar incident took place in the government hospital in Kalwa… This shows how the health infrastructure has become in Maharashtra or how the government has neglected health department in the state. Despite all this, the government is still busy in conducting festivals,” Raut told The Indian Express.

There were also allegations that the deaths were caused due to shortage of medicines at the hospital. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi spokesperson Farooque Ahmed said, “The loss of 24 lives due to shortage of medicine and negligence is a grave matter. A thorough investigation should be conducted to ensure accountability and prevent such incidents in the future. The state government must prioritise public health.”

Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “The news of death of 24 people, including 12 newly born babies, in a government hospital in Nanded is extremely sad. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.”

Attacking the BJP, he said, “The BJP government spends thousands of rupees on advertisements but doesn’t have money for medicines for children… for BJP, lives of the poor have no value.”

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