As expected, the internal inquiry conducted by a team of doctors on the death of three children in a span of 12 hours at the Sishu Bhawan here on Friday night has ruled out “negligence in treatment” meted out to the newborns.
“There has been no negligence in treatment as alleged by the parents of the deceased,” said Sishu Bhawan Superintendent Prof Niranjan Mohanty on Saturday, quoting the reports of the inquiry committee. Prof Mohanty however, added that the enquiry team is questioning the nurses and other staff on duty at that time to verify the veracity of the allegations made against them by the attendants and parents of the patients.
At least two newborns died while undergoing treatment in the ICU and a paediatric died in the ward of the hospital on that fateful night triggering a protest by the attendants and relatives of the patients, who allege negligence in treatment as the cause of the deaths.
Hospital sources said at least 21 newborns in the ICU and 300 other paediatrics were undergoing treatment here on Friday night and at least 40 of them, including the newborns in the ICU were in critical condition.
“While the hospital records at least three deaths of critical patients per day on an average, the deaths of three patients on the intervening night of August 21-22 cannot be attributed to negligence in treatment,” Mohanty said, adding that he had verified the prescriptions, clinical reports and the modalities and management of the deceased.