NHRC to take action against a government run hospital
23 Oct, 2012In a reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with a Government hospital at Delhi it was revealed that more than 10,000 children had died in the past five years. The applicant sought the details of the number of children who died in the Kalawati Saran hospital in last five years, total no. of ventilators available in the hospital, no. of ventilators working etc. As per the information furnished by the hospital, a total of 10,081 children have died in the hospital in last five years. The hospital however failed to provide the reasons behind these deaths, but officials said that most of them are brought there in critical condition.The RTI also revealed that nine of the 25 ventilators in Kalawati Saran Children Hospital are not working. Responding to a question on the status of ventilators in the past three years, the hospital authorities said that there is no ready data available regarding non-functional status of ventilators during the past three years. But whenever any complaint is received a prompt action is taken to inform the firm concerned and get the ventilator repaired. The hospital is one of the two specialised paediatric care centres run by the government. The applicant has also filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in this regard and the Commission will decide the course of action against the hospital.