HYDERABAD: This is the second incident this month when a child has died at Niloufer Hospital, allegedly due to medical negligence. The parents of an infant suffering from neonatal asphyxiation said that their child died within hours of being admitted, and alleged that the staff didn’t immediately attend to the baby. A doctor from the hospital; however, denied the claims, and said that the child had only a 1-2 per cent chance of survival. Earlier, on April 9, a 12-year-old, with an injury to his stomach, died due to alleged negligence of the doctors.

The parents of the infant said that their child died due to inadequate treatment and negligence. Balaiah, the father of the infant, stated that while the child had difficulty in breathing, the doctors did not take any action. The mother said that the doctor and the nurse asked her to go out and wait while they attend to the child. However, she did not go, and saw the doctor and nurse leave her unattended. She fought her way back to her child while the staff tried to prevent her. The nurse then calmly told her that the infant had died. The mother claimed that they allowed her to die.

Dr Ravi Varma, Head of the Pediatrics Department, refuted the claims and said that the newborn had stage three neonatal asphyxiation, with only 1-2 per cent survival chance. The only action they take in such a situation is to provide oxygen to the child. Stages one or two have a chance of survival, said the doctor.

He added that the puncture holes on the child’s body were due to IV administered at numerous hospitals before she was brought to Niloufer. The parents had taken the child to a government hospital in Nizamabad, and then to private hospitals, where IV drips were administered several times.

Dr Varma further stated that the hospital had shortage of staff, and had only 150 nurses, while the required number was 450. The hospital can currently handle only 10 per cent of tertiary care services; however, most of the cases they cater to are tertiary cases.