Admitting the lapse that has led to conducting a surgery using a mobile flash light at an operation theatre at Government General Hospital in Guntur recently, Minister for Health Kamineni Srinivas on Friday said that a probe has been ordered into the incident and promised that action would be taken against the medical infrastructure department.
A day after the incident came to light, the Minister rushed to the GGH and took stock of the situation.
Speaking to mediapersons, he said the surgery took place on February 10. Venkaiamma, who was bitten by a dog at Muppala, was being operated upon by a plastic surgeon when there were several disruptions to power supply between 12 noon and 12.45 pm.
The operation theatre (OT) has a backup generator but even then one of the lights of the operation table could not be switched on as the MCB tripped. As the surgery was in a crucial stage, the doctor completed the procedure using a mobile phone light. However, the power supply was restored within five minutes, he said.
Renovated OT
“I admit that this was a major lapse. Soon after being informed by the Chief Minister’s Office, I asked the Director of Medical Education to probe the issue. The OT has been renovated at a cost of ₹30 lakh and the LED lights of the operation table cost another ₹15 lakh. There are 25 OTs in the GGH and all of them are in good condition and we have even applied for NABH accreditation,’’ the Minister said.
Medical Superintendent D.S. Raju Naidu and reconstructive surgeon Sumitha Shankar were also present.
Biggest hospital in State
The GGH is the largest State-owned referral hospital in the State and has a sanctioned bed strength of 1,187.
Over the years, the hospital has upgraded the infrastructure and added several facilities for its superspecialty departments.
But poor maintenance of equipment in wards and lack of an effective engineering wing has been the bane of the hospital.
In August 2015, an infant died after being bitten by a rodent, an incident which exposed the chinks in the administration.
The State government planned a complete overhaul of the hospital, but incidents like these have been tarnishing the image of the hospital.
