At least seven more infants died while undergoing treatment at the Sishu Bhawan here on Friday, taking the death toll to 42 during the past eight days in this paediatric hospital
Commotion prevailed for a while in the hospital premises in the evening when an irate mob from a nearby locality locked the gates of the hospital after the death of a critically ill infant. While a team from the Union Health Ministry accompanied by Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is scheduled to visit the hospital on Saturday, leader of Opposition in State Assembly Narasingha Mishra visited the hospital on Friday and expressed shock over the sudden spurt in casualties.
In a related development, the Odisha High Court taking up a PIl on the day issued notices to the State Government asking it to fill up the vacant posts of doctors and paramedics in the hospital immediately. The court posted the matter to be heard again on September 4. On the other hand, four senior resident doctors from the SCB Medical College Hospital were transferred to the Sishu Bhawan on the day and asked to immediately join in their new assignments.
Meanwhile, amid reports of negligence in treatment, the number of patients in its OPD has drastically fallen. While the hospital was catering to the needs of some 300 patients daily, only 120 patients came to its OPD on Friday.
A member of the investigating team looking into the causes of the deaths on Friday pointed out that all the infants who died during the past week had been brought in critical conditions. Most of them were suffering from septicaemia with meningitis, birth asphyxia, viral encephalitis and acute bronchial pneumonia.