Following the death of an infant at Goalpara civil hospital on Wednesday, the parents and relatives of the child staged protest in the hospital.
They blamed ‘carelessness’ on the part of the hospital authority as the cause of the child’s death.
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The 27-day infant, who died at Lower Assam’s Goalpara civil hospital while undergoing treatment, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night due to stomach problem.
Ajit Prasad Upadhay and Sanjana Sarma from Santipur village in Goalpara’s Dudhnoi got their infant daughter admitted to the hospital after being advised by a resident doctor of the hospital, Rezaul Karim Sheikh.
“The doctor told us that she would be alright the next day,” the father of the deceased child said.
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“Throughout the night, we kept on collecting information about her well-being from the nurse staff. They also reported her health condition as stable.”
“But early in the morning, they informed us that our baby was no more. How come she can die suddenly?” the bereaved father questioned.
“We have come to know that the doctor on night duty didn’t pay a single visit to the three babies being treated in the baby ICU. Even the staff members were seen engaged in talking on mobile phones,” he alleged.
As the news of the child’s death spread as wildfire, members of Gorkha Students’ Union gathered at the hospital and joined the protest alleging ‘negligence’ on the part of the hospital authority.
The bereaved family also refused to receive the body of the infant.
“We protested against the inhumane and negligent manner the hospital authority treats the children.”
“There is no responsibility of the night duty staff towards the patients and they act whimsically and the way they want.
“Thus, we want justice for the baby and stringent action for those who are responsible for the death of the baby,” said Lohit Chetry, president of the Goalpara district Gorkha Students’ Union.
However, the hospital authority rejected the allegations.
“Every child is same and important for us. We try our level best but everything is not under our control,” said a doctor of the hospital on condition of anonymity.
Both police and administrative officers of the district later arrived at the scene and controlled the situation.
The body of the baby was handed over to the parents after conducting post-mortem.
“The infant was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and died on Wednesday morning. The parents and attendants complained of carelessness towards the patient by the hospital authority.”
“We have conducted the necessary post-mortem,” said Rituparna Das, executive magistrate while talking about the incident.
The 200-bedded civil hospital at Bhalukdubi has received several national awards over the years for quality service.
However, recklessness behaviour by a section of the hospital staff has also affected the reputation of the hospital.