NEW DELHI: An RTI query seeking to know the number of deaths in government-run hospitals in the city has laid bare the Delhi government’s claim of having revamped the healthcare system. According to the reply, a staggering 1,538 patients died in four government-run hospitals while undergoing treatment in January alone this year.
The hospitals in the red are Ram Manohar Lohia (RML), Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU), and Baba Saheb Ambedkar (BSA). They recorded 457, 575, 248, and 258 deaths respectively.
The 1,450-bed GTB hospital recorded the highest number of deaths in one month. But the administration maintains that the numbers are not alarming as they should be compared with the number of patients admitted.
“We get a lot of patients from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, mostly in a very critical state. Sometimes private hospitals send us patients suffering from terminal disease and are already in a bad shape. Also, being a government hospital, the sick from the economically weaker section of society see a lot of hope in us. But we are mere humans, not Gods,” medical superintendent of GTB hospital Sunil Kumar said.
State Apathy?
1,538 Deaths in January 2017 in four major hospitals
Guru Tegh Bahadur 575
Ram Manohar Lohia 457
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya 248
Baba Saheb Ambedkar 258
The Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital admits more than 250 patients daily with a budget of Rs 350 crore per annum. The amount is not sufficient, claimed Sunil Kumar, medical superintendent of the hospital.
According to RML medical superintendent A K Gadpayle, “During January, we get a large number of patients with viral fever like swine flu, dengue, chikungunya. Hence, the high death rate.” The 1,447-bed hospital admits around 6,235 patients per month.
The hospital’s medical record department said the situation is not any better in other months as at least 354 deaths in different departments of the hospital were recorded in June too. The maximum number of deaths was recorded in the Medical Department. The Paediatrics Department registered 36 deaths in January and 28 deaths in June.