The controversy hit SVR Ruia hospital has been given a clean chit by a high-level team of doctors, who ruled out medical negligence. Recently, 11 infants had passed away in the hospital.
The committee comprised of senior doctors from Niloufer hospital, Hyderabad. The designated doctors, Subramanyam,Murli Rao and Himbindu visited the hospital and inspected the conditions. They also interacted with the parents of the infants under treatment in the hospital, and asked them about the quality of treatment their children were receiving.
On completion of their inspection the doctors were asked several questions by the media, to which, their answers were guarded and circumvented solely around the purpose of their visit. They told reporters that they were there to inspect the hospital’s facilities and to give recommendations to the government about changes that may need to be made. Their observations include good infrastructure, good ventilation and better sanitation facilities. Apart from these observations they gave a clean chit to the doctors who have been under the scanner for the past few days. However they admitted that there was a shortage of staff, especially nursing staff. Passing the buck they stated that it was the nursing staff that monitored the patients around the clock. They observed that the hospital is lacking in that aspect. Maintaining their stand that the doctors were not to blame, the inspectors said that most of the cases were brought in at the 11th hour.
Also read: Ruia hospital under the scanner for infants’ deaths
It is rare that doctors do impartial enquiries. If lay men are involved, the findings will be different.