Relatives of Doddballapur residents Venkatesh and Sushila, protested in front of Vani Vilas Women and Childrens’ Hospital alleging that the couple’s 20-day-old daughter died after the hospital authorities delayed the treatment for meningitis.
The baby was suffering for the past few days and was initially taken to a government hospital at Doddballapur. Since there was no improvement in the infant’s condition, the parents were asked to consult doctors in Bangalore.
The baby was brought to Vani Vilas Hospital at 3.30 am on Wednesday. Since the neonatal ward of the hospital had five ventilators, of which three were occupied and two were under repair, the parents could not get the baby treated. Hospital authorities asked the parents to take the baby to Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health for further care.
“The parents, on Wednesday evening, came to the hospital seeking admission at Vani Vilas and the baby was very weak. Early on Thursday morning, the baby died,” said Medical Superintendent V Somegowda.
Ministers visit hospital
Following the death of the baby, Health Minister U T Khader and Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil visited Vani Vilas Hospital on Thursday evening.
Patil said that the hospital, that falls under the Directorate of Medical Education, needed more ventilators in addition to the existing five. “The neonatal wards need more ventilators and beds as the patient load is very high here. The hospital caters to the poor and many keep coming for treatment, but there aren’t enough doctors and nurses to look after them,” he said.
He further said that the ongoing Metro work has caused space constraints on the hospital.
Adding to this, Khader said that better coordination is required between the hospital staff and medical college staff in the hospital to improve health care delivery.