'Doctors being made a scapegoat in maternal deaths in Madurai, need proper review'
The allegations of fabrication of case sheets have been made against the doctors and they state that they are being made a scapegoat while there is a lack of infrastructure and human resources at the hospital.
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CHENNAI: After the recent maternal deaths at Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital and recommendation of district Collector to suspend the doctors, the doctors association in Tamil Nadu are demanding a proper enquiry and review of the maternal deaths across the State.
The allegations of fabrication of case sheets have been made against the doctors and they state that they are being made a scapegoat while there is a lack of infrastructure and human resources at the hospital.
"The District Collector, District Health Officers and Municipal Health Officers are not acting responsibly and with the aim of covering up the shortcomings of the medical infrastructure, without fully investigating and knowing the conditions under which the treatment methods were provided, and what efforts were made," said Dr G R Ravindranath, secretary of Doctor's Association for Social Equality.
Tamil Nadu doctors association members say that strict action should be taken against individuals if their is negligence and carelessness on their part, but a thorough review meeting needs to be done. The doctors raised the issue of lack of adequate number of obstetricians in government hospitals.
"The patient load is high in government hospitals and more number of positions need to be filled for doctors, nurses and lab technicians. Even in government hospitals, where 300 deliveries are done per month, there are only three obstetricians on duty and they also work for 24 hours on few days. Such heavy workload takes a physical and psychological toll on obstetricians. The 24 hours duty of obstetricians should be cancelled," added Dr Shanthi.
While health minister Ma Subramanian on Thursday said that maternal mortality rate in Tamil Nadu is 52 per 1,00,000 births and there has been a dip in the mortality rate, the government doctors say that neighbouring States of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have significantly improved their mortality rate and the state health department should take measures to bring it down further.