An RTI response has revealed the shocking record of Delhi government hospitals, which boast of world-class healthcare facilities but have failed to save the lives of their newborn and young patients.
The reply reveals that 12-15 per cent children admitted to the hospitals’ neo-natal and paediatric ICU wards have died in the past five years. In some cases, the death rate has averaged 25 per cent.
The 34,000 casualties in five years were reported from 19 Central and Delhi government hospitals.
The Union government-run Safdarjung Hospital appears to be the worst offender. It has reported 10,396 deaths in the neonatal ICU (NICU; 4,288 casualties) and paediatrics ICU (PICU; 6,108 deaths) wards in five years.
Senior health officials attribute the alarming figures to reasons like premature birth, low birth weight, neo-natal infections and birth trauma.
As per the Sample Registration System (SRS), the infant mortality rate in Delhi is 24 per 1,000 births.
Most children in the 1-5 age group died of septicaemia, sepsis, pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases, indicating that hundreds of these children could have been saved had it not been for the medical apathy and poor facilities in the hospitals.
Medical facilities
“This is shocking. Neo-natal deaths can be prevented if a hospital’s ICU functions properly and is equipped with relevant medical facilities,” a Delhi government official told Mail Today.
The Delhi government’s sole children’s hospital — Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya — has reported 5,499 deaths in five years up to December 2014.
Almost 16 per cent of the babies admitted in the PICU and NICU wards succumbed and sources attributed it to the lack of proper medical facilities.
Essential equipment, like ventilators, is lying dysfunctional in both the wards of the hospital since 2013.
According to the information available, two ventilators each are not working in the wards.
“These hospitals have managed to remain out of the officials’ radar for long. The government should focus on improving medical facilities for the newborns,” a health department official said, wondering: “How can any hospital function without a ventilator? The machine should be working round-the-clock.”
The Central government-run Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital has reported 1,971 deaths in the NICU and PICU wards in the same period. The hospital sees more than 1.5 lakh patients in its Out-Patient Department (OPD) every year.
Even after witnessing a huge turnout in its OPD, it is surviving on two functional ventilators out of a total six, the RTI revealed.
The hospital was established in 1956 as a centre of excellence in paediatric care and research with a neo-natal wing of 50 beds.
“Often, there is shortage of medical devices like infusion pumps, which are required in ampleness to treat the newborns,” RTI activist Raj Hans Bansal said.
An infusion pump is used to deliver fluids, including nutrients and medications, into a patient’s body in controlled amounts.
Shockingly, many government hospitals don’t even have any PICU facility.
For instance, Delhi government’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital in West Delhi and ESIC Hospital in Rohini don’t have either PICU or NICU wards.
Some other hospitals — like Sanjay Gandhi Memorial, Lal Bahadur Shastri, NDMC Kasturba, Babasaheb Ambedkar and Maharishi Valmiki — do not have a PICU ward.
“These hospitals cater to a large number of paediatric patients without having specialised intensive care units in place. The condition of Delhi government’s hospitals needs a revamp. Instead of building new hospitals, the government should focus on improving the existing facilities,” a senior health official told Mail Today.
Counter-charge
But some health officials counter the charge that the hospitals are responsible for the high number of casualties.
“Some of the deaths are reported within 24 hours of admission. Such patients are brought in at the last stage and so the doctors are unable to save them. But we are trying our best to improve the neo-natal and paediatric care in our hospitals,” said Dr R.K. Gupta, director in the Health and Family Welfare Department.
The city government is planning to shortly increase the number of beds in the NICU wards across its hospitals. A draft regarding the issue will be submitted this week to Health Minister Satyendra Jain, sources said.
