‘Unfortunate, but no doctor, staff or shortage of medicine responsible for the deaths’: Nanded hospital dean

No individual doctor or staff member is responsible for any of the deaths. An expert committee is looking into the reasons behind the unfortunate deaths. I appeal to the people to not spread incorrect news about the hospital that looks after lakhs of poor patients every year. Because of rumours and false news, citizens will lose faith in the government hospital and will be forced to move to private hospitals in the district.

Is there a common factor behind too many deaths?

No. If you leave a 62-year-old parient, the rest of the other deceased adults are from the age group of 70–90 years. They died due to heart attack, diabetes, kidney-related complications, liver failure, etc. Only one 19-year-old patient in a road accident died due to gas gangrene.

If you see the national registry for an average public hospital of this scale, you see 10–20 deaths. As per our hospital’s statistics, 7–10 deaths are recorded daily. And when the number of patients admitted to the hospital suddenly increases, then the death rates, too, shoot up.

What would be your take on the 18 infant deaths?

The infants brought to the hospital were premature babies aged zero to four days. They were underweight, lungs not fully developed… such infants sometimes develop other complications, especially respiratory problems. In such situations, there are 50 per cent chances that infants will get infections or develop other complications and may die.

We have 24 warmers, and using them, we manage nearly 70 kids. Our NICU is overcrowded. Despite knowing that, people bring their infants here for treatment because they have faith in us.

Patients complained that they had to buy medicines from outside…

Medicine supplies sometimes fall short because the hospital has 508 sanctioned beds, and accordingly, medicines and funds are allotted. But the hospital treats 1,080 admitted patients. Sometimes medicine supplies get affected due to fund issues or back-to-back holidays but it never impacts the overall functioning of the hospital or treatment of patients. Initially, we had 3–4 ventilators, but after Covid, we have more than 70 ventilators.

Is the hospital facing a shortage of doctors and staff?

There is no question of a shortage of doctors. In the hospital’s 20 departments, PG degree courses are taught, and we have 104 PG students, and the administration has appointed 54 senior residents.

The hospital has an area of 55,000 square feet, and in 2011, the new hospital was established on an area of 1.65 lakh square feet. The sanctioned strength of the old hospital is taking care of the functioning of the new hospital.

You filed an FIR on Shiv Sena MP Hemant Patil for making you clean the toilet. Why?

The MP did this intentionally with caste bias. Cleaning the toilet was not my work. But to defame me, he made me clean it. I am not demoralised by his acts. I took legal action and filed a police complaint. Instead of trying to show off his power, had the MP helped patients by talking to them or helping them in any manner, the patients would have praised him.