Services Hospital accused of negligence

Services Hospital administration was embroiled in a controversy on Wednesday over the alleged criminal negligence of Gynae ward staff which led to the death of a baby. Rizwan Bashir, father of the child, appealed to the Lahore High Court chief justice, Punjab chief minister and chief secretary to order impartial enquiry into the matter by a commission of senior doctors. He also demanded departmental action against the Gynae ward staff on duty at time of death and registered a case against them.
The appellant claimed in his application that the arm of the newborn baby had been fractured at two points when the baby was being bathed. Upon arrival at the hospital and after his wife had been shifted to the labour room for normal delivery, they were informed at the last moment that a major surgery was needed to save the lives of both mother and child, Rizwan said in his letter to officials. After exchanging harsh words, arrangements for the operation were made and the family was informed of the child’s birth within the next 15 minutes.
Five minutes later, however, Rizwan was told that his newborn baby had died. Rizwan said he was pressured into signing the death certificate of the child. On demanding to see the medical file of his wife, Rizwan was given an admission slip dated September 4, contrary to the fact that his wife had been admitted on September 2, while the birth and death of the child occurred on September 3. He alleged hospital staff had kept his wife unconscious by administering injections to keep her from protesting over the baby’s death and had issued fake admission and discharge slips. Services Hospital officials expressed ignorance of the event and refused to comment.