2 doctors, nurse from Nair Hospital suspended for alleged negligence

Mumbai: An MBBS student, a doctor and a nurse who worked at the BYL Nair Hospital were suspended by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) following allegations of 'medical negligence' that led to the death of a four month old in a cylinder blast on Monday.

Four persons including the four month old child received burns due to a cylinder blast that took place in Worli on Monday. They were eventually admitted to the Nair hospital where the infant died late night on Tuesday. However, a video had surfaced on social media which went viral and  showed that the hospital staff did not attend to the injured when they asked for help.

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The administration had appointed an external committee of four doctors under Dr Ajay Chandanwale, Joint Director of Directorate of Medical Education and Research to investigate the incident. A doctor from J J hospital and two specialised doctors in burn cases from private hospitals were also present in the committee, reports The Indian Express.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani (Health) told the BMC Standing Committee that a doctor, a MBBS student and a nurse have been suspended for alleged medical negligence on Friday. He said, "So far, three hospital staffers have been suspended. The external committee will submit its report by next week. To ensure that the inquiry is fair, we have not involved any doctor from the corporation."

Kakani added that a committee has been formed to investigate the incident and ensured that action would be taken against those found guilty. He added that he had immediately ordered an inquiry into the allegations after he saw the video, adding that the report is expected to come in seven to eight days, reports Times of India. 

The officials said that they were suspended on the basis of a preliminary internal inquiry and visuals from the CCTV camera. According to a media report in the Hindustan Times, Dr Ramesh Bharmal, dean of the hospital stated that the official order for suspension was issued on Thursday along with an order for a departmental inquiry after the video showing the burnt persons not being attended to surfaced on social media.

Bharmal said, "Suspension order was issued after a thorough investigation of the video-clip, that became viral on the Internet. The doctors and the nurse suspended were seen in that video."

The BJP in the BMC blamed the ruling Shiv Sena for not taking immediate action on the matter. On Thursday, 11 BJP corporators had resigned from the civic health committee. The BJP corporators demanded that a committee of elected representatives should be set up for the surveiilance of civic hopsitals.

Shiv Sena's leader in BMC, Vishakha Raut moved a motion to adjourn the Standing Committee on Friday which was supported by all Sena leaders, demanding severe action against the culprits.

Civic health committee chairman Rajul Patel of Shiv Sena said that she had sent the video to the Nair hospital dean Dr Ramesh Bharmal, asking him to take severe action against the accused. Patel added, "A case of homicide should be filed with police."

Standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav of Sena stated, "In the video, we could see patients begging for help and doctors and nurses sitting idle. The BMC is known for providing good health services, but such incidents are condemnable."

Additional municipal commissioner Sanjeev Kumar stated that prima facie the video shows that the medical staff's behaviour was wrong.

Leader of Opposition in BMC, Congress' Ravi Raja said that an FIR should be filed against the staff of the hospital. BJP's Prabhakar Shinde demanded that an amount of Rs 25 lakh as compensation for the family of the child. The corporators said that the suspended doctors should not be reinstated to set a precedent.

Kakani responded that the corporation would make amend rules so that no one with a 'shabby history' or with complaints against them are recruited. He added, "We will conduct counselling sessions for all hospital staffers to avoid such incidents."

BJP's Vinod Mishra added that when his party's corporators arrived at the Nair hospital for a surprise inspection, only two out of the 34 department heads were present in the hospital premises. 

Stating that the administration should take strong action, Jadhav said, "The video of the hospital is very shocking. The BMC is doing a good job in handling Covid-19, but this incident was very disappointing. We need strong action so that such incidents are not repeated again."

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