Petition on GHs: court notice to Govt.

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, NOV. 6. The Madras High Court has ordered notice to the Government on a petition seeking to ensure that specialised treatment, adequate manpower and basic medical infrastructure such as ambulance and first aid were available in Government Hospitals in all taluks and districts.

After a petition filed by Mr. P. V. S. Giridhar was admitted by the First Bench comprising the Chief Justice,

Mr. B. Subhashan Reddy, and Mr. Justice K.P.S. Sivasunbramaniam, the Government Pleader received the notice, returnable in three weeks, on behalf of the Government.

Narrating an incident in which he helped two accident victims get admitted in the Cheyyur Government Hospital,

Mr. Giridhar said stretcher and first aid and trauma care facilities were not available. One of the victims succumbed to injuries after a woman doctor employed in another Government Hospital declined to treat him.

The petitioner said he had written to the Health Secretary and the Cheyyur Inspector of Police, asking the former to provide basic facilities in all hospitals and the latter to take action against the woman doctor, but in vain.

The authorities' failure to take action against the doctor is unreasonable and illegal, Mr. Giridhar said, adding that ``the respondents have breached the mandatory duties cast upon them by law''.

``The failure of the respondents to provide for proper trauma care facilities on or near highways is unreasonable and violative of rights of common citizens under Articles 14 and 21'', he said. ``The Supreme Court has also held that the State has Constitutional obligation to provide trauma care facilities and timely medical treatment to persons in need'', he added.

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