Lack of proper supervision by the persons concerned has led to the death of patients due to disruption in oxygen supply on three consecutive days in various government hospitals in the district, Anantapur Urban MLA Anantha Venkatarami Reddy has opined.
Failure of the coordinating nodal officers led to paucity of oxygen, Mr. Venkatarami Reddy said at a meeting of the people’s representatives and COVID-19 nodal officers convened by R&B Minister M. Sankaranarayana here on Wednesday.
Decentralised approach
Favouring a decentralised approach in the working of the nodal officers, the MLA said it would help them tackle emergencies without waiting for the orders from the higher-ups.
While there were two nodal officers to oversee and coordinate the supply of oxygen, the Superintendent in-charge of patients at the Cancer Hospital was made the scapegoat, the MLA said.
“Why were no alternative arrangements made when the officials knew the capacity of the storage tank and were coordinating with the oxygen supplier? It is impossible for a single person to manage every aspect when a couple of hundred patients are being treated with severe scarcity of medical and paramedical staff,” Mr. Venkatarami Reddy observed.
The MLA also suggested the taking over of the government hospitals at Kannekal and Uravakonda, along with the Kalyandurg RDT Hospital, for COVID-19 treatment, duly making arrangements for oxygen supply either through bulk cylinders or oxygen concentrators.
