Central team faults staff crunch, poor infra

Inadequate staff and poor infrastructure are the major causes of recent spurt in infant deaths in the Sishu Bhawan here, felt a team of experts from Union Health Ministry.The four-member Central team headed by a Joint Secretary visited the paediatric hospital here on Saturday and expressed their desire to cooperate with the State Government to improve the situation.

The Central team apparently came to the hospital after Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan discussed the Sishu Bhawan situation with Union Health Minister J P Nadda. Earlier in the morning, Pradhan accompanied by State BJP president KV Singhdeo and some State leaders visited the paediatric hospital and held discussions with hospital Superintendent Niranjan Mohanty.

Speaking to media, Pradhan expressed concerns over the increase in deaths of the infants at the hospital and assured that the Central Government would do whatever necessary to arrest the infant mortality rate in the State.  Meanwhile, the deaths in the Sishu Bhawan continued unabated on Saturday also and at least four deaths were reported on the day taking the number of deaths to 47 during the past nine days.

Echoing the observations of various previous committees, the Central team also mentioned that patients in extreme critical condition are referred to here from the peripheral hospitals. As a result, many of them die within 24 hours of their admission.