Jalandhar civil hospital may undergo massive revamp after three oxygen deaths

While ambitions that the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, could be turned into a medical college have been harboured for long, the tragic deaths of three patients there on the evening of July 27 is yet another reminder on how far the hospital still has to go, to attain that ambition. In the wake of the July 27 incident, the hospital is now up for a massive rehaul on all fronts including manpower, oxygen back-up systems (multiple levels of which failed on the fateful day) and several defunct units, which are now set to be revived in the wake of the incident.

The dismissal of the plant operator/technical supervisor of the oxygen plant at the Civil Hospital, Narinder Kumar included, five people have so far faced action during the ongoing inquiry —- that includes MS Dr Rajkumar, SMO Dr Surjit Singh, Consultant Anaesthetist Dr Sunakshi (suspended) and House Surgeon Dr Shivinder Singh (dismissed).

The Health Minister on Thursday personally reviewed the oxygen back-up systems and various wings of the hospital. He announced setting up of a robust four-layer back-up system to ensure uninterrupted oxygen and power supply, firefighting systems, water and sanitation services besides manpower at the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, and all government hospitals of the state.

The hospital authorities also sent a detailed feedback to the Health Department on all modules which failed to function and an assurance had been received to bring all of these up to the mark.

Only 16% nursing staff

The most repeated and primary demand critical for the success of the Jalandhar Civil Hospital is staff, especially nursing, paramedical and technical personnel.

Operating with just 16 per cent of its strength of nursing staff, the hospital is in dire need of more manpower and staff nurses. Of the 384 staff nurses which it needs, the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, currently has only 62.

Also, while every ward needs at least three attendants, currently the overworked staff is making do with one to two (many double up as technicians, clerks, assistants etc).

The DNB or Diplomate of National Board (a postgraduate medical degree awarded by the National Board of Examinations) being run at the Civil Hospital in Jalandhar has come in handy to address the shortage of doctors. The hospital currently has 47 DNB doctors (Specialists), 11 House Surgeons, 49 specialist doctors and 17 MBBS doctors (General medicine). The hospital needs six more surgical specialists, four more doctors in medicine, besides various other specialisations. As per IPHS norms, the staff needs a massive upgrade. The Health Minister had prioritised manpower and said it would be upgraded and also shared that salary hikes had recently been ensured to doctors to boost their morale.

Oxygen back-up

The second biggest problem, especially in the wake of July 27 tragedy, is oxygen back-up. Three well stacked (1,000 LPM, 700 LPM and a liquid oxygen) plants failed to function for a critical half-hour period. Most equipment was either in need of dire repairs or no one knew how to operate it.

Sources said the AMC of the 100 LPM plant at the Civil Hospital had also not been renewed. And the dryer of the 1,000 LPM plant was also under repair currently. The Health Minister had also said the third LOM plant would be made functional.

Meanwhile, after the incident, the trauma centre’s ground floor unit (where two patients died) also received a wiring upgrade and was fumigated.

The DDO (Drawing & Disbursing Officer) powers of the hospital have been vested with Civil Surgeon Dr Gurmeet Lal from Friday onwards, who would now also hold additional charge of the Civil Hospital.

Officiating Medical Superintendent Dr Satinderjit Singh Bajaj said, “The Health Minister has assured us of the rejig of various units. The 700 LPM plant is up and functioning and quotations regarding repairs and upkeep of other units have also been sent. The plants and oxygen manifold systems have also undergone multiple checks. A staff review meeting was also

conducted on Thursday and we are making repeated checks. All units would be made operational.”