The death of a pregnant woman and two newborns in Tumakuru District Hospital has thrown the spotlight on accountability and fixing the responsibility of the medical staff on duty in these hospitals. "District surgeons, doctors, and other staff who are found to be responsible for this have been issued show cause notice and have been asked to respond within 24 hours. If doctors and staff in government hospitals misbehave with people, they will be terminated from service. I will speak to the Chief Minister in this regard and if need be we will bring necessary amendments to laws in the next session of the assembly," said Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar.
Speaking about the death of a pregnant woman and two newborns in Tumakuru District Hospital, minister Dr K Sudhakar said the girl who has now lost her mother has been admitted to an orphanage home. A fixed deposit of Rs 5 Lakh has been made in the girl's name from the government. The government will also take care of her education.
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He further said that in cases of emergency, hospitals should not insist on documents. "Documents can be collected after attending the emergency. There are about 76 notified emergency services and instructions are already in place to not deny or delay treatment in such cases. In case of treatment is not available in government hospitals people can avail it in private hospitals also and govt will bear the cost," he added
Unfortunate incident
He said the police department has been making all efforts to trace the family of the woman for the last 36 hours. If the family is not identified, the government will take complete responsibility in this case, he added. "Irrespective of which state the woman belongs to, she should have been treated at the hospital on humanitarian grounds. This incident has indeed created mistrust in the entire public health system, " the minister expressed his disappointment.
Open challenge
Responding to Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah's comments Dr Sudhakar said, "I can produce records regarding the number of infant deaths that happened in Mysuru when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister. Siddaramaiah neither resigned nor sought his health minister's resignation. If he can stoop so low to politicise a death, he is not just unfit to become a leader but also unfit to be called even a human being. Such incidents should not be politicised, Dr Sudhakar said. "I will produce documents on the number of deaths that happened in government hospitals during Siddaramaiah's tenure. If Siddaramaiah is ready to resign as leader of the opposition then I will step down as health minister, challenged Dr K Sudhakar.