The Delhi Government on Friday cancelled the licence of Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, with immediate effect, for alleged medical negligence, including the twins case in which one of the babies was found alive after being wrongly declared dead by its doctors.
After a three-member enquiry panel formed by the Delhi Government submitted its final report to Health Minister Satyendar Jain, he said “criminal negligence” of any type cannot be tolerated and what has happened is “not acceptable” at all.
He said the Max Hospital is a “habitual offender” as this is not the only mistake done by it but it repeatedly made several blunders in past few months.
“The licence is canceled till further orders and keeper of the hospital has been directed to refrain from admitting any new indoor patient and stop all outdoor treatment service with immediate effect,” tweeted Jain.
According to the orders by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the licence stands cancelled till further orders.
Jain said a notice was sent to the Max Hospital on November 22 for allegedly violating norms related to services to EWS patients and the use of dengue fever beds. The three cases (twins, EWS, fever beds) were clubbed based on which the final action was taken.
The DGHS in its order said, “Indoor patients admitted prior to the issue of this cancellation order shall be given a choice by the keeper of the hospital to continue their indoor treatment in your (Max) hospital or to be transferred/shifted to another hospital of their choice.”
Max authorities, in a statement, issued hours after the cancellation of the licence, said, “We have not been given an adequate opportunity to be heard. We have received the notice of cancellation of the licence of Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh. We strongly believe that this ruling is harsh. We believe that even if there is an individual error of judgement, holding the hospital responsible is unfair and will severely limit the ability for patients to access treatment. This will compound the shortage of hospital facilities in the national Capital.”
It said, “We will explore all options available to us. We stand firmly behind our commitment to patient care, clinical and service excellence to the best of our capabilities.”
Indian Medical Association (IMA) president KK Aggarwal too said the Government’s decision is “harsh” and the IMA is coming up with guidelines for hospitals to follow in such cases. He also said such incidences have happened before even at Safdarjung hospital; however it emphasised that such incidences should not be repeated in future.
The grieving family thanked the Delhi Government for taking action against Max, however, they alleged that the doctors indulge in it are “roaming free” and demanded that they should be arrested as soon as possible.
The Max case pertains to twins — a boy and a girl — declared dead by the hospital and handed over the bodies to the family in a polythene bag. However, the family found that the boy was still alive while they were on way to do their last rites. A week later, the baby succumbed at a nursing home in Pitampura.