Kurnool: The Directorate of Medical and Health Science swung into action after a story about the power outage at Kurnool Government General Hospital was published in this newspaper on Friday. Higher officials of the Health Department ordered a probe into the incident that led to an unusually high number of deaths. Several heads are likely to roll for their inaction. Showcause notices were issued to two members of the hospital staff, including the Resident Medical Officer. The State Intelligence Wing also asked the hospital to file a comprehensive report on the matter. The state administration is looking into the widespread corruption and negligent behaviour on the part of hospital authorities. Heal-th Minister Kamineni Srinivas and Principal Secretary Punam Malakon-daiah took note of the situation and reprimanded hospital superintendent Dr J. Veeraswami.
The proceedings at Kurnool Hospital were monitored by the Health Minister’s office throughout Friday. The Hospital Superintendent was instructed by District Collector S. Satyanarayana on what information to disclose to the media.
S.V. Mohan Reddy, the MLA from Kurnool and a member of the Hospital Development Committee, expressed shock at the negligence of the hospital authorities. He visited the hospital and interacted with patients, assuring them that their health would be taken care of. “It is shameful that the power could not be restored for 12 hours, that too at the district headquarters which boasts of advanced technology,” he said. The MLA promised that such an incident would not be repeated.
When contacted, Punam Malakondaih said that she was aware of the power outage at Kurnool Hospital. She added that the DME had been ordered to seek a report and appraise the situation.
Hospital superintendent Dr J. Veeraswamy said that show cause notices had been issued to the RMO and the CSRMO, seeking to know why they had failed to act during a period of crisis. He said that eight deaths had occurred during the twelve hours when there was no power, but they were not related to the power outage. However, he was unable to provide an alternate explanation for the unexpectedly high number of deaths that night. Based on data from other days, the average number of deaths that occur during the night is two.
When he spoke the media on Thursday evening, the Superintendent had said that 20 deaths had occurred that day – eight male, four female and eight children. He changed his statement on Friday and said that only 15 deaths had occurred.
