The Sardar Vallavbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics (SVVPGIP) has been caught in a storm over alleged negligence in treatment following the death of a three-month-old baby on Monday night.
Faced with a public outcry, the hospital authorities on Tuesday conducted an inquiry into the incident even as the Congress latched on to the issue and staged a demonstration in front of the office of the superintendent. The inquiry, however, revealed no dereliction of duty by the staff and attributed it to miscommunication between the patient and
the staff.
According to reports, the baby boy, Pappu, was suffering from acute pneumonia and was brought to the premier paediatric referral hospital by his father Sanat Dalei of Chanditola Village under Badchana in Jajpur district on Sunday.
Pappu was admitted to the medicine ward and his condition was critical. He died on Monday night following which his parents complained that the nurse had refused to change the oxygen cylinder on the pretext that her duty was over. She had asked the parents to wait for the replacement and by the time the duty nurse arrived, Pappu was dead.
After an inquiry on Tuesday, the authorities came to a conclusion that the oxygen cylinder had gas in it and was functioning when the duty nurse left.
“The child was in a very serious state. Despite best efforts of the doctors his condition could not be reversed and he succumbed. Due to some miscommunication, the parents were aggrieved. We have submitted a report to the Government on the issue”, superintendent Prof HK Mohanty said.