MADURAI: Following District Collector MS Sangeetha's letter to Health Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi requesting action against the staff of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OG) department at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) for allegedly fabricating medical records pertaining to two maternal deaths, an inquiry committee from the National Health Mission on Monday interrogated the medical officers of GRH, including the hospital dean, and a few urban primary health centres.
The committee comprising retired gynaecologists Dr Shobha and Dr Rathinakumar and National Health Mission (NHM) state programme manager Palani held inquiries with the medical officers, staff and nurses at the GRH who were on duty during the deaths of Semmalar on September 2 and Kuppi on September 5. City Health Officer (CHO) Dr Vinodh, Assistant City Health Officer Poongothai and medical officers, nurses and other staff working at UPHCs were also interrogated.
The entire inquiry procedure lasted for over five hours and the panel also collected information about the death of Thiagavathi, another pregnant woman, who was referred to the GRH from a UPSC in Madurai. Sources said the committee would soon submit its report to NHM Director Shilpa Prabhakar Satish and further course of action will be taken based on the report.
Meanwhile, demanding the suspension of CHO Dr Vinodh, the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association has called for a protest at GRH on Tuesday. Association president Dr K Senthil claimed the CHO and his staff trespassed into the GRH maternity ward, threatened the staff there and collected blood samples of a deceased woman. Doctors will refrain from performing non-emergency operations on Tuesday, and they said the protest will continue till the CHO is suspended.
"Further, Collector MS Sangeetha is not a judge. She can just refer the audit report to the medical board, but does not have the power to order the hospital dean to suspend the medical officer. There is no fabrication in the case sheets. Some staff gave false information to the collector," Dr Senthil added.
Earlier this week, UPHC doctors wrote to the corporation commissioner alleging that GRH doctors were not providing proper care to pregnant women who were referred to the hospital by them. Subsequently, Joint Director of Health Services Dr Nirmalson and Additional Director of Medical Education Dr Shantha held discussions with CHO Vinodh and officials working in UPHCs.
In a letter to Health Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association (TNMOA) State Secretary Dr M Akilan said maternal deaths have become a burning issue in Madurai. "The situation is not much different across the state. The maternal mortality rate (IMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) must be brought down by conducting proper audits and implementing preventive measures. Instead of doing this, the officials are busy passing the blame. It is also a fact that the officers get harassed or ragged during audit meetings. This is why even senior medical officers are trying to conceal patients' treatment details and modify documents. Audit meetings are not murder inquiries. The aim is to identify medical errors and rectify them for the future," he added.