Pvt hospital faces action

The state Public Grievances Commission has directed the Delhi government’s Directorate of Health Services to take immediate action against Jaipur Golden Hospital for its role in a 2012 case in which a pregnant woman died at the hospital.

In June, the DHS had cancelled the registration of Satyam Hospital, Rohini, after it was found that Kamini Solanki died after being initially treated by an unqualified doctor. The woman was later shifted to Jaipur Golden Hospital. However, no action has been taken against Jaipur Golden Hospital which did not conduct a post-mortem on the woman even though the cause of her death was not natural.

“The DHS has already taken action against Satyam Hospital, under the Delhi Nursing Homes Act. Similar action against Jaipur Golden Hospital has to be taken by DHS as per rules and on merit without any delay,” the order by the commission said.

“I approached the Public Grievances Commission after the DHS tried to pass off the responsibility to the DMC even though it stated in an earlier order that there was negligence on part of Jaipur Golden Hospital in not conducting a post-mortem examination and police did not gather vital evidence,” said Dhiraj Solanki, the woman’s husband.

While the Delhi Medical Council is responsible for taking action against doctors at fault, it comes under the purview of the DHS to act against hospitals accused of medical negligence.

After investigating the case, the DMC had observed that the patient suffered perforation of uterus and so police should be asked to probe who subjected the woman to instrumentation.

“It was further observed that in this case, since the cause of death was not natural, Jaipur Golden Hospital erred in not advising a post-mortem examination. Hence, the Directorate of Health Services, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, is requested to take appropriate action against Jaipur Golden Hospital for this lapse,” the order by the council mentioned.

“A medico-legal case was not prepared by the hospital in this case. So it is the responsibility of the DHS to take action against the private hospital,” said Dr Girish Tyagi, Registrar, DMC.

A senior official of the DHS refused to comment if immediate action would be taken against Jaipur Golden Hospital. “The order says action be taken as per rules and on merit. As per rules, the DMC should first check if the doctor in question was registered with the council. It should be first probed if the medico-legal case was not prepared since the doctor was not competent.”

However, the official did not rule out cancellation of the licence of the hospital.

The involvement of Navjeevan Hospital, where the woman was taken before being shifted to Jaipur Golden Hospital, has also come under the scanner for not having the basic facility of blood testing. According to the Delhi Nursing Homes Act, it is mandatory for every nursing home to have modern equipment.