ANANTAPUR: Nine patients died in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday at Anantapur Government Hospital. Relatives of the victims allege they would have survived had they been given better medical attention. Eight of the deaths occurred at the Acute Medical Care (AMC) unit. The patients were referred to the government hospital after a few days of treatment at private institutions.
The relatives alleged that dearth of doctors and inadequate nursing staff played a major role in the demise of the nine patients.
“Doctors seem to be more interested in private practice than attending duty at government hospitals. They were not very serious about the condition of the patients. This is the main reason for the deaths of the patients,” said R Rajesh, the son of a deceased patient.“We are going back with a body, when we had hoped that father would be cured of all illnesses,” he said. Authorities of the hospital with 35 wards and 120 doctors sent proposals for strengthening the institution’s services to the state government in 2009, but so far there has been no response. Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas and Principal Secretary Poonam Malakondaiah have sought a detailed report on the deaths. The minister’s office monitored the situation at the hospital and issued instructions to superintendent Dr A Jagannath. District collector G Veerapandian was also on his toes all through the day.
Dr Jagannath said the patients who died at the hospital were clinically critical at the time of admission. “They were treated at other hospitals before being brought here, so attributing the deaths to negligence is unfair,” he said. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports indicated that 10 patients died of suspected dengue in neighbouring Chittoor district.