HC sets up expert committee to examine govt hospitals | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday set up a committee of medical experts to examine the issue of lack of infrastructure and medical facilities in state-run hospitals in Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.

The court was hearing a suo moto public interest litigation after advocate Mohit Khanna wrote a letter to the chief justice, highlighting deaths of at least 38 patients, including 18 infants, at the government hospital in Nanded and 26 in the state-run hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, between September 30 and October 4.

The division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice MS Karnik, while observing that a long-term solution to the issue of infrastructural development in state-run hospitals would take years to implement, directed the state to form a committee to address short-term redressal to ensure prevention of such tragedies. “We need both long-term and short-term solutions to it,” it stated.

Advocate Neha Bhide, representing the state, suggested forming a panel of expert bodies, including medical personnels and medical college deans, to examine the situation. “A team of experts need to be involved, who will be much more aware of the ground reality,” she stated.

The intervenor in the case, Jan Arogya Abhiyan, an organisation dealing with public health, accentuated the persistent issue of infrastructural shortfall in state-run hospitals. It highlighted that districts have only one hospital each. “The influx of patients at one hospital leads to the provision of inadequate and compromised medical facilities,” it said.

Recapitulating its commitment to preventing such tragedies in future, the court directed the setting up of a committee to visit the hospitals and recommend a short-term solution to the issue. The quorum of the committee includes the secretary of public health department, directors of the health sciences and medical education department, deans of Sir JJ Group of hospitals and Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar hospitals.

The court directed the committee to visit the Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar hospitals within two months and submit a short-term and a long-term solution report to the court by June 16.

The division bench on Thursday clarified the seriousness of the incident and stated that it should not be seen as adversarial litigation. “If any party is not satisfied with our suggestions, they are free to approach the Supreme Court. However, we do not want unnecessary litigation under the garb of suggestions,” the bench stated.

Earlier in February, the court had expressed serious concern over the vacant posts of medical officers in state-run hospitals across Maharashtra, where it had questioned the state’s failure in filling up the vacancies, despite the passage of adequate time and allocation of substantial funds. The court had sought a detailed report on infrastructural development and existing vacancies. “If the system is ailing, provide us with suggestions to address the gaps in the healthcare system. We must issue effective directions,” it had commented.