Mangaluru: The District Health Mission meeting was held at the Deputy Commissioner’s office here, on July 21.
Deaths during delivery and deaths of infants were discussed in the meeting. During 2014-15, there were 262 infants who died while the figure is 72 deaths for the year 2015-16 till June, out of which there have been 12 deaths each in Bantwal, Puttur and Sullia, 14 in Beltangady and 22 in Mangaluru.
In DK district, there have been 6,985 deliveries in three months from April to June, during which 7 delivery deaths were reported. They were: Sulthanisha (26), wife of Surfaraz Nawaz, who died on April 15 during transit from Lady Goschen hospital to A J Hospital; Varsha (23), wife of Devadas from Atturkemral Pakshikere, who died on April 24; Maimuna (34), wife of Ahsraf from Savanoor, who died on April 27; Misriya (25), wife of Aasib Kaniyoor; Jabeena (26), wife of Mohammed from Ganjimatt, who died on May 15; Poovakka (30) and Ameena (33), from Suratkal, who died on May 28 on the way to AJH from Padmavathi Hospital.
The family members of all the 7 deceased were present during the meeting and conveyed the agony they had gone through when their loved ones departed.
After listening to the grievances from the family members, Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim instructed the District Health Officer to form a 5 member committee to investigate all the seven cases. He also said that the investigation should start within a week of time and the report should be submitted within a month. “All the cases should be thoroughly investigated and if the family members of the deceased are not happy with the findings, they can refer the report to other doctors,” he said.
The DC also said that there might have been some kind of negligence by the hospitals in all the 7 death cases. “The family members of the deceased were not happy with the service provided by the hospitals. If a patient comes with a problem and the hospital cannot treat the patient, the hospital authorities should immediately instruct the family members to shift the patient and at the same time, the hospital should escort the patient to another hospital. Nurses and paramedics should be trained to handle such cases. The hospitals should not put the patient’s life at risk due to their negligence.”
He also advised that the Deputy Commissioner of Udupi along with the DHO from Udupi should investigate Varsha’s case in Udupi, because she died in KMC Manipal after being shifted from a private hospital.
District Health Surgeon Dr Rajeshwari, CEO ZP Sreevidya and District Health Officer Dr Ramakrishna Rao were also present.