Kin protest after newborn dies

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 17

High drama prevailed today outside a private hospital situated on Powerhouse Road after a newborn baby died. Blocking the road, the parents and family members of the deceased accused the hospital staff of negligence and blamed them for the unfortunate development.

While the protesting family members demanded police action against the doctors and staff, the hospital authorities refuted the allegations.

Ravinder Pal Singh, a resident of Jujhar Singh Nagar, said, “On October 12, my wife gave birth to a baby boy. The child had contracted some infection, for which he was admitted to a private hospital situated on Powerhouse Road. During treatment, the baby’s health was improving. We were shocked this morning when the hospital staff told us about the death of the child.”

“Before we could confront the authorities to ask about the reason behind the death, the hospital authorities sent the body to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem. The doctors also didn’t tell us clearly what had happened to the baby. We are sure that the baby has died due to the negligence of the doctor and hospital staff,” he added.

As the family members refused to budge from the spot till the time a case is registered against the hospital staff, Naib Tehsldar Lakhvir Singh and DSP-II Gurprit Singh reached the spot. Police personnel have been deployed to handle any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, Dr Kapil Bansal said the baby was brought to the hospital after delivery. The child was being treated for pneumonia and unfortunately, he passed away, Dr Bansal said. He added that the hospital staff were not to be blamed for it. The doctor added that to pacify the parents, the hospital had shown them all reports and CCTV recordings.

SP Gurmit Singh said a board had been constituted, including doctors and parents, for conducting a post-mortem. He said action would be taken only after the post-mortem reports were out.