The relatives of the patients have blamed the poor facility for the incident.
Eight people, including two newborns, have died in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district in the last 24 hours. This is the second hospital tragedy to strike Maharashtra as 31 deaths in the last 48 hours at a government facility in Nanded district have been making headlines.
Twelve patients died at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in the last 24 hours, officials said. Out of the 18 deaths, four were brought dead, he added. Two pre-term babies are also among those dead. “They weighed only 1,300 grams each,” the official said.
Dean of the hospital Sanjay Rathod, however, downplayed the incident, saying “There is no major disparity between the number of deaths and the total number of admissions”.
“Around 200 patients, including serious cases, are admitted to the hospital every day. Given their critical condition, there is no major disparity,” he said.
The relatives of the patients have blamed the poor facility, including the shortage of medicines, at the hospital for the incident.
The dean rubbished the claims and said the facility was not running short on life-saving drugs.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Minister of Medical Education Hasan Mushrif today said a thorough investigation will be conducted into Nanded hospital where 31 patients, including 12 newborns, lost their lives.
“We will carry out a thorough investigation. I have briefed Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis regarding the same. I will visit the hospital and a committee of doctors will be formed,” Mr Mushrif said.
Maharashtra has more than 20 government medical colleges and several blame recent transfers of staff for the dilapidated infrastructure at these facilities.
Nearly 350 doctors were transferred between the months of July and August. This when the facilities already have a shortage of about 1,200 doctors.
Recently, resident doctors held a protest as they were not able to get training due to the shortage of senior doctors and professors.
Several health experts have also said that many government hospitals are facing a sudden shortage of medicines. The procurement of medicines through Haffkine Biopharmaceutical has been affected for some time.
