Pregnant Woman's Death: Noida Administration Initiates Action Against 7 Hospitals Who Denied Treatment

The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has initiated action against three government and four private hospitals for denying treatment to a 30-year-old eight-month pregnant woman, who died on June 5.

Earlier, a two-member inquiry committee, probing the untimely death of the pregnant woman had come down heavily on officials and staff members on the concerned hospitals.

The committee demanded strict action against several medical professionals and concluded that the hospitals had made excuses to not admit her on time.

Neelam Kumari, the victim was in her eighth month of pregnancy and undergoing labour pains when she was denied admission to several hospitals in Noida, Delhi.

The woman's and her family were wandered on the road for nearly 13 hours, first in an auto and then an ambulance when she breathed her last on the evening of June 5.

The victim was denied entry to eight hospitals namely ESIC, District Hospital, Shivalik, Fortis, Jaypee, Sharda, GIMS, and Max Vaishali all of which either referred her to another hospital or cited the lack of hospital beds.

A committee was set up on June 7 under the CMO Gautam Budh Nagar and ADM Finance on orders of District Magistrate Suhas LY. The report was submitted to District Magistrate on June 8 and shared with the media the following day. ESIC Hospital, District Hospital, and Government Institute of Medical Sciences were found primarily guilty whereas show-cause notices were sent to five private hospitals.

The committee found that ESIC Hospital in Sector 24 referred the victim to another hospital despite having all ventilators and other amenities at its disposal to treat her. The patient was then dropped outside the Sector 30 Hospital without informing the doctors or staff present, action will be taken against the ambulance driver and the ESIC Hospital staff.

"When the patient approached private hospitals, an excuse was made that beds are not available. This delay led to the death of the patient. The hospital staff on duty at the time are held guilty. The administration will be issuing notices to the hospitals with regard to specific wrongdoings. In the event it is found that the private hospitals were not following Supreme Court guidelines, FIR will be filed against them," the probe report said.

According to The Times Of India, DM Suhas LY recommended the transfer of Dr Vandana Sharma, the chief medical superintendent of District Hospital In sector 30.

A Jaypee Hospital spokesperson justified their stance by saying that they had advised the patient to go to Santosh Medical College in Ghaziabad under the guidelines which mandate a COVID suspected patient to be treated in their districts only. While others said they were following administrative protocols, the staff at Fortis said they had advised immediate resuscitation to stabilise the patient in the absence of an isolation ward but the victim's husband had denied the offer.

In view of the deteriorating health standards in the national capital, the administration also highlighted that hospitals should ensure admission of patients and that communication should be established with other hospitals in case of a referral to minimize the delay.

Also Read: Noida: Denied Admission In 8 Hospitals, Pregnant Woman Dies In Ambulance