Boy dies in hospital, kin allege negligence

Satinder Pal Singh

Dera Bassi, August 25

A family here today accused a doctor, who was on night duty at the local Civil Hospital, of not attending to their five-year-old child, which resulted in his death, the police said.

Vijay Kumar Tiwari, father of the deceased, who works as a helper in a factory, alleged negligence on the part of the doctor and the night staff of the hospital in monitoring the condition of his son Shivam, when the minor was brought to the hospital with complaints of loose motions and vomiting on Saturday night.

In his complaint to the police, Tiwari alleged that his son, a student of DAV School, Dera Bassi, complained of loose motions and vomiting on Saturday night.

He, along with his wife Laxmi, took their son to the Civil Hospital around 1.30 am. He alleged that the doctor did not bother to check the patient and an injection was administered by a nursing student, who was training at the hospital.

He then requested a staff nurse around 3 am to attend to his son as there was no improvement in his condition. He alleged that despite repeated requests to the staff nurses, the minor was not attended to properly. The doctor came around 6.30 am and prescribed two syrups for the minor, saying that it will help the boy. He could not buy the syrups as medical stores were closed in the morning.

Around 7.30 am today, when his son’s condition started deteriorating, the doctor finally attended to him, but did not refer him to another hospital, he alleged.

He then took his ailing son on a bike to the GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where doctors declared Shivam brought dead.

The family filed a police complaint at the Dera Bassi police station against the doctor and the staff involved in the treatment of the boy.

A police official said they had taken cognisance of the matter and had started investigations under Section 174 of the CrPC.

Sangeeta Jain, SMO, Dera Bassi, said she was looking into the matter and had procured CCTV footage. She said she had apprised her higher-ups of the incident and action would be taken if anyone was found guilty.

Manjit Singh, Civil Surgeon, Mohali, said an inquiry had been marked into the incident and action would be taken on the inquiry report.

Report sought

An inquiry has been ordered by the Civil Surgeon, Mohali, and the hospital authorities have been asked to submit a report at the earliest.