In a most shocking incident, as many as 24 patients including 12 newborns admitted to the Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital in Nanded died on Monday due to the shortage of medicines and staff. An additional 70 children are in a critical condition.
"In the last 24 hours, six male and six female babies died, while 12 adults succumbed as a result of different diseases, chiefly snake bites. However we had some difficulties because various employees were being transferred," Dean Dr S Wakode, Shankarrao Chavan Government hospital, told the FPJ on Monday evening. The hospital is named after the former chief minister of Maharashtra Shankarrao Chavan of Nanded and his son Ashok Chavan was also a chief minister.
Locally purchased medicines were inadequate, says Wakode
Dr Wakode claimed that the hospital administration had made advance payment to the state government-owned Haffkine Institute in Mumbai towards procurement of medicines but it has not received the stock. Locally purchased medicines were inadequate.
“We are a tertiary-level care centre and many patients came from far-off places and the hospital faced issues of procuring the right medicines for them in time amid budgeting constraints, and other issues. The condition of all government hospitals is pathetic and it is hampering patient services leading to deaths,” he alleged.
Inquiry committee to be formed to probe the incident
Meanwhile, Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif has informed that an inquiry committee will be appointed for detailed inquiry in the Nanded incident. “Seven deaths were of the critical patients. Two patients died due to snake bite and poisoning," he said, adding that there is adequate staff at the hospital and the seniors would be visiting the hospital.
Ex-CM and senior Congress leader from Nanded, Ashok Chavan, said that besides these deaths, another 70 patients, referred from other private hospitals in the district, are reported to be ‘serious’.
“I spoke with the hospital Dean who said there was a shortage of nursing and medical staffers, certain equipment are not working and certain departments are not operational for various reasons. This is a very grave issue,” said Chavan.
Calling the deaths "unfortunate", Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters in Mumbai that more information will be sought about what happened at the hospital and action will be taken.
This incident comes less than two months after 18 patients died in 24 hours in August at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa in Thane, of which 12 of them were above the age of 50. According to Thane civic commissioner Abhijit Bangar, the patients were suffering from complications due to kidney stones, chronic paralysis, ulcers, pneumonia, kerosene poisoning, and septicemia among other ailments.
Meanwhile, the District Planning Committee had approved a fund of four crores rupees for Nanded Government hospital, of which one crore rupees each was allocated for procurement of machinery, medicines, surgical equipments and oxygen. However the fund is yet to get final approval from technical support team.
Opposition attacks govt
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said this is murder due to absolute negligence on the part of the unconstitutional state government.
“This is shameful, please don’t call them deaths, this is murder due to absolute negligence on the part of the unconstitutional state government. They are so busy planning influencer events or foreign trips that they have forgotten their basic job is to serve the state," she said in a post on X.
Who are among the dead?
24 patients died in Nanded government hospital in 24 hours
The dead include 12 newborns.
6 babies born within 48 hours and 6 babies born within 24 hours died
Two people who were treated for snakebite have died.
7 of them have died due to different serious diseases.
A woman has died during childbirth.
It is also reported that two patients have died due to heart attack.
