KURNOOL: How did ten infants, who are three to four days old, die in the Kurnool General Hospital, in a matter of two days? Though it is unusual that infants should die in such quick succession, the ministers and officials, who visited the hospital, are giving a clean chit to the doctors who attended on the infants, saying that there was no negligence on their part.Then why should the newborns die only yesterday and day before yesterday and not on all other days? This question does not have an immediate answer.The minister - S Vijayarama Raju, TG Venkatesh, who visited the hospital, inspected the premies of the paediatric ward and conferred with the doctors and came out saying that the doctors are not at fault.They, however, said they ordered a thorough investigation into the deaths.If they were convinced there was no negligence of doctors and that the infants died because of sheer quirk of fate, why inquiry? These questions are being raised by parents and kin of the infants at the hospital.In a knee jerk reaction, the ministers promised 10 ventilators and 10 incubators and left the hospital in cars, leaving a trail of dust for the grieving parents to breathe.Doctors from Hyderabad - Additional DME Dr Sampth Kumar, UNICEF representative Dr Ajit Kumar, Child Health joint director Dr Neerdha, specialist from Nilourfer Hospital Dr Avinash visited the ward where the infants died.They later discussed what had happened with superintendent of the hospital Dr Sudarshan, Medical College principal Dr Bhavani Prasad, children's ward head Dr Ram Prasad.The doctors at the Kurnool Hospital told the visiting doctors that of the 10 infants who died, nine were referred by private hospitals.They said that the children's ward, in which usually there are 100 patients on any given day, had 200 patients because of increase in admissions on account of change in weather conditions.Since the number of patients was more, the number of deaths would also be more of those who were critically ill, the doctors pointed out.The conditions at the hospital which caters to the needs of patients of not only Kurnool district, but also to those of Prakasam, Mahaboobangar and Bellary district in Karnataka are in fact very deplorable.There would be, on any given day, not less than 100 patients.Of the 90 beds available in the ward, only 70 are fit for use.Of those in good condition, only 20 beds were provided with ventilator and incubator.Of these, only 12 ventilators and eight incubators are in working condition.This apart, the building which is 70 years old, has electric wiring which impresses none.Electric short circuits and sudden blackouts are a common occurrence at the ward.For the three units in the ward, there should be three professors, nine assistant professors but there are only three professors and three assistant professors working there.There should be at least 24 post graduate doctors but those who are available are not more than 12.Of the required two head nurses and four staff nurses, there is only one staff nurse.Though there is a proposal for construction of a new building to house the pediatric and gynaecology ward, it has been gathering dust.About seven years ago, the then chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy had promised the building and the officials accordingly sent a proposal for the new block which envisaged an investment of Rs. 14 crore.The chief minister later laid the foundation stone for it.But the government did not release the full amount and washed its hand off by sanctioning Rs. 3 crore.
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