The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Achuthanandan visits SAT Hospital

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
ePaper

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Achuthanandan visits SAT Hospital

Staff Reporter

Promises steps to improve facilities in Government hospitals

TAKING STOCK: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan visiting Sree Avittom Tirunal Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday

Thiruvananthapuram: The Government will take steps to improve basic facilities and manpower shortage in Government hospitals, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said.

Mr. Achuthanandan on Tuesday visited Sree Avittom Tirunal (SAT) Hospital, which has been in the eye of a storm following reports of death of newborns owing to hospital-acquired infection.

He was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit, the labour room and ward one, where on Tuesday there were 80 patients as against a bed strength of 30. He also visited the control room which has been opened at the hospital to provide information to the public. Later, addressing mediapersons, Mr. Achuthanandan said he was satisfied with the manner in which the Government had handled the crisis at the hospital as soon as the news of the death of the newborns was reported.

Limited resources

The hospital, though a tertiary care centre, catered to more than twice the amount of patients it could handle. There was also the problem of overcrowding by visitors, he said. When limited resources were utilised by more people, problems were bound to happen, he said.

More paramedical staff and security personnel would be made available at the hospital. The Government had instituted a committee to hold discussions with the employees so that the existing staff pattern could be revised, he said.

Mr. Achuthanandan said he did not believe that there had been a `conspiracy' to discredit SAT Hospital.

He said as per the information provided by the hospital authorities, most of the children who died were pre-term babies of extremely low birth weight.

However, the Government would inquire if there had been any negligence on the part of the doctors which could have led to the death of the infants, he said. He also appealed to the public to comply with the regulations that had been imposed in the hospital.

This was necessary as visitors could bring more infections into the hospital, Mr. Achuthanandan said.

Minister for Law M. Vijayakumar; MLA V. Sivankutty; Director of Medical Education N. Sudhayakumar; Medical College Principal A.V. Remadevi; Director of Health Services T.K. Kuttamani; SAT superintendent Lalitha Kailas; and National Rural Health Mission director Dinesh Arora accompanied the Chief Minister during his hospital visit.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala