Arrest of Head of Department Pediatrics GMC Patiala Additional District and Sessions Judge Rajinder Aggarwal in Patiala recently awarded two-year imprisonment to Dr K K Locham, head of the Pediatrics Department at Government Rajindra Hospital, nurse Reeta and Class IV employee Satya in connection with the death of six infants at the hospital in 2009. A fine of Rs 5,000 each was also imposed on the accused. Dr Lochhan was accused of overlooking he facts that infants were kept in low quality incubators and room heaters were being used instead of central heating. Questions which need to be answered are; 1) Is a Head of Department at GMC Patiala empowered administratively and financially to purchase / repair faulty equipment. If not then who is and why he is not made responsible for the deaths. 2) Is Head of Department at GMC Patiala empowered administratively and financially to install central heating in the NICU instead of using room heaters. If not then who is and why he is not made responsible for the deaths 3) Is the HOD at GMC Patiala at fault because he did not write a letter to his superiors regarding poor working conditions ? The question can only be asked by those who have not faced an adverse ACR for being a trouble maker and being shunted out of Medical College into a Far flung rural dispensary. 4) It is surprising that given the poor upkeep, loose hanging wires and leaking roofs more tragedies do not occur in Govt Medical College Patiala and Amritsar. The wards and hostels are in pathetic conditions with no money available for even routine maintenance what to talk of renovation and installation of new equipment. 5) Making Head of Department Govt Medical College Patiala a scape goat for all that is wrong with Punjab Government and its economic policies, health budget allocation is unfortunate. What is worse however is that not a single doctor or organization raised a voice in defense of Dr Lochan knowing fully well that he is not the killer but simply the person incharge of nursery at the wrong time.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 00:52:53 +0000
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