West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday suspended 12 senior doctors and post-graduate trainees of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital for “negligence” in the wake of the death of a woman after delivery, and said that the CID could press criminal charges against them.
Last week, one woman died and three others fell critically ill after childbirth at the state-run medical college. The families of the victims alleged that expired intravenous (IV) fluid was administered to the women, leading to the worsening of their health condition.
Those suspended included the Resident Medical Officer of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, two assistant professors, a head of the department, a senior resident doctor, medical superintendent-cum-vice principal of the hospital apart from six post-graduate trainees.
Addressing mediapersons at the state secretariat, Nabanna, the chief minister cited the expert panel’s report and the ongoing CID probe into the incident behind the decision to suspend the doctors.
“I have received a report from our special medical team (13-member expert panel) that visited the hospital. The CID team probing the incident has also submitted its report. The reports of the special team and CID highlighted negligence… Those who were on duty that day, had they performed their duties, the woman could have been saved. The senior doctors and others were negligent. They did not perform their duty. Negligence is also a crime,” said the chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was accompanied by state Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and Health Secretary NS Nigam.
“The 12 senior and post-graduate trainees have been suspended. The CID will also include them in its investigation. I don’t know what will happen if any other patient fell on their hands,” she added.
“It has been reported that one of the on-duty senior doctors left the hospital to visit another (private hospital) 40 km away that day. We have a responsibility towards the problem, and we will have to take action,” the CM, who is also the health minister, said.
On alleged usage of ‘expired’ intravenous fluid, the Bengal CM said such medicines were already removed from all hospitals.
“We keep on monitoring. Medicine stores are audited to check whether expired drugs are being used. As for the intravenous fluid we are discussing, some states are still using it. I don’t know if there is any story behind it. We have already stopped using it. We will retest and then make a decision. If there is any alternative, we will consider it. This is a serious matter, and senior doctors should be involved in it,” she said.
On doctors working in private medical establishments during their duty hours in state-run hospitals, Banerjee cautioned them that such practices would not be allowed.
“I will appeal to senior doctors to be on duty during their allocated eight hours. We have information that there are doctors who go to the hospital to attend duty, mark their biometrics and after staying there for two hours, go out to private hospitals to treat and operate patients and then return.
“Do not do any other duty during this allocated eight hours. You do whatever you feel like after that,” she said, adding that in every case, senior doctors must accompany the junior trainee doctors.
Banerjee went on to hold the examination system responsible for the degradation in health services and said the state was consulting a foreign agency to improve it.
“You can get everything in our hospitals and our medical facilities are well-equipped. We are not responsible for this degradation. The examination system is responsible for it. The MSVPs and principals must take special care of this,” she added.
The CM questioned why there were no CCTV cameras outside the operation theatres at state-run hospitals. She directed Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and Health Secretary NS Nigam to immediately install CCTV cameras outside the OTs in all hospitals.
“I think there should be CCTV cameras inside operation theatres too. In certain cases, some patients might have reservations. We will not reveal those videos, but we have the right to monitor the movement of people going in and out of the OTs, and how long they stay inside,” she said.
With PTI Inputs