CM warns doctors against being lax

Reviews situation at government general hospital

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday said any laxity on the part of the doctors in attending to patients would not be condoned.

The warning came at a review meeting he organised with DMHO Venkataramana, Superintendent of government general hospital A. Jagannath, and principal of medical college K.S.S. Venkateswara Rao on the conditions prevailing at the general hospital in the wake of the recent deaths. District Collector G. Veerapandian and TDP legislator Prabhakar Chowdary were present.

It was learnt that Mr. Naidu enquired whether there was any truth in the media reports that the deaths occurred because of negligence on the part of the doctors and the hospital’s inability to tackle with the situation.

The district Collector was learnt to have told the Chief Minister that all the deaths reported were due to natural reasons and that none involved any laxity on the part of the doctors.

When asked about any requirement at the hospital, Mr. Veerapandian was said to have requested Mr. Naidu to initiate steps to increase the undergraduate seats at the medical college from the current level of 100 to 150 so that additional bed strength could be added.

‘Deaths were natural’

Meanwhile, Minister for Health Kamineni Srinivas, during his visit to the general hospital on Saturday, said all the deaths reported were because of natural causes.

Addressing the media after holding a meeting with the doctors and chairing the hospital development committee meeting, Mr. Rao said the nine deaths were not due to any kind of negligence on the part of the doctors. The reasons were beyond the control of the doctors, he said.

“The media portrayed as though the deaths occurred due to negligence, apparently due to lack of understanding of the given situation,” Mr. Rao said.

Shortage of doctors

He, however, admitted that there was dearth of doctors at the hospital.

“We are trying to correct the situation in the fastest and the best way possible,” Mr. Rao said.

Meanwhile, deaths continue to occur at the hospital with close to 22 people passing away in the last three days due to various reasons.