The NEIGRIHMS director on Thursday stated that over 100 deaths have occurred in the Cardiology department since January 2018.
The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) director stated this while referring to a recent case of death in the department which has been highlighted by a section of people.
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Regarding some news reports highlighting the death of a 52-year-old patient in the Cardiology department, the director in a statement said, “Every death is an unfortunate event for us, and as Head of the Institution it is my responsibility to ensure that no patient dies, who otherwise could be saved.”
Quoting the figures of Medical Records Department, the director said “from January, 2018 more than 100 deaths have occurred in Cardiology Department of either same diagnosis or similar diagnosis”.
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“It is therefore unfortunate that some people are highlighting the death of this patient for unknown reasons,” stated the director.
The director further said the high cost device costing around Rs 25 lakh demanded by the department of Cardiology was never used by the department before, “although many patients expired in the past of similar diagnosis”.
The PRO of NEIGRIHMS in a statement said the director on Thursday conveyed to the faculty the approval of the ministry of health and family welfare to implement assessment promotion schemes regularly in NEIGRIHMS from this year.
As per the letter issued recently, forms for assessment promotion schemes shall be invited every year in the month of May and all faculty members fulfilling the requisite criteria shall be eligible for next higher promotion.
“The administration has been pursuing the issue vigorously with the ministry for last two years,” the director said.
“Administration of this Institute besides fighting for the rights of the employees of NEIGRIHMS is always concerned with the patient care services of the poor patients of the Northeast. He advised the faculty of NEIGRIHMS to work honestly to the best of their capacity so that patients of this region retain their confidence in this premier Institute,” the statement said.
Regarding the facilities provided to the patients of Cardiology department, the director said, “Most of the drugs and disposables are provided free of cost to the poor patients, however certain costly items, patients need to purchase.”
“Our efforts are to ensure that the patients purchase the item at lowest possible cost so that the poor patients of the region need not to sell their valuables and land for their treatment,” he stated.
Amrit Pharmacy in the Institute was established in 2016 with the sole purpose of making the drugs/devices available to the patient at a reasonable cost.
The director while thanking the faculty members of NEIGRIHMS for their cooperation during the time of crisis assured that he would continue his efforts to streamline the system so that it remains both patient-friendly and employee-friendly.