Intensive care? Rajasthan orders mortality audit at Kota hospital

NEW DELHI: The Rajasthan government has made mortality audit of mothers and infants admitted at the JK Lon government hospital in Kota mandatory to ascertain if there was any negligence on part of the doctors and nursing staff.
The audit would include a detailed summary of events leading up to referral of infants to JK Lon Hospital, complaints at the time of admission, diagnosis, treatment given, any concern or adverse event in the management of the patient, whether the patient was treated in intensive care and status of machines at the time of treatment in ICU.

The mortality audit would be conducted by a team of doctors. 111 infants died at the hospital in the last 37 days. Infants have been referred from neighbouring districts and Madhya Pradesh to the hospital attached to the Kota Medical College. The state government has now pressed neonatologists and paediatricians from Jaipur hospitals into service.

A high-level team appointed by the health ministry, including Kuldeep Singh (Head of Paediatrics and Dean Academies, AIIMS Jodhpur), Dr Deepak Saxena (senior regional director, Rajasthan, ministry of health and family welfare), Dr Arun Singh (Professor of Neonatology, AIIMS Jodhpur), Dr Himanshu Bhushan (Adviser, National Health Systems Resource Centre), visited the hospital on Sunday and rural areas of Kheda Rasoolpur and Gandi Falee. According to health ministry sources, the team also visited Bundi district hospital to get an overview of health care systems in the region. It gauged the level of care given to expectant mothers and new-borns, percentage of patients referred to JK Lon Hospital and the gaps in neonatal healthcare.

The management of JK Lon Hospital and alleged negligence of hospital staff is under the scanner of central agencies, including the health ministry, National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Suresh Dulara’s role is also being examined. NCPCR team had written in its report, “Dr Dulara was found highly negligent towards his duties and had no answer to the questions asked to him.”

Over 60% of equipment at the hospital has been found non-functional for want of annual maintenance contracts. 70% of the radiant warmers are not functional.

Kota administration has skipped the summons issued by NCPCR on the infant deaths. NCPCR has issued fresh show-cause and summons through the Rajasthan chief secretary now.