Nurse suspended after death of infant in govt hospital

The Punjab government today suspended a nurse of a government hospital here in connection with the death of an infant, who was allegedly taken off life support after her father failed to pay a paltry fee of Rs 200.

"Harjeet Kaur Oberoy was placed under suspension with immediate effect after she was found to direct another nurse to force the victim's father to deposit the money," Director, Health Services, Karanjit Singh said.

The nurse, who was deputed at another ward, came to emergency ward and forced her counterpart to demand the money from Sanjeev Kumar, said Singh, who headed the high-level enquiry committee set up on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's order.

Further investigations into the case are on, Singh said, adding that the committee would recommend for criminal negligence case against those found guilty.

To a question, he said that under the NRHM scheme, a government hospital cannot ask for any delivery charges from a patient.