A three-member advocate commission appointed by the Madurai bench of Madras High Court inspected the Government district headquarters hospital here on Thursday and took stock of the infrastructure facilities and assessed the conditions of the equipment and facilities.
The Commission led by Dr. Somasundaram, a retired government doctor and comprising advocate members Subba Raj and Senthil Kumar inspected almost all the departments, including the laundry and mortuary sections, and asked the heads of the departments to give reports to further improve services to the people.
The Commission was appointed by the High Court on a petition filed by Veronica Mary after three patients, who were on ventilator support died after power failure due to alleged absence of back up support at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai in May. She had sought a direction to the authorities to ensure UPS and other back up facilities for ventilators in all the government hospitals and assess the conditions of the equipments.
The Commission, accompanied by the petitioner and her counsel Thirumurugan found fault with the centralised oxygen supply system in the hospital and noted that patients had to go out to private radiologist for reports on MRI scans. The commission members enquired about the purchase of medicines and the funds available for buying medicines during emergencies.
Mr Thirumurugan said hospital staff in several departments complained about lack of funds for maintenance of the equipment. They suggested that doctors should not be called for meetings in the morning hours when they were required to make ward visits and attend out-patients. Joint Director (health services) Dr. A. Sakaya Stephen Raj, Hospital Superintendent P. K. Jawaharlal and Resident Medical Officer Karuppasamy were among others present. The Commission later visited the Government Hospital at Paramakudi.
