Hospitals fully stocked with life-saving supplies: Delhi govt

NEW DELHI: Answering to questions on how well-equipped the Capital's healthcare infrastructure is, the Delhi government has asserted that all its hospitals are ready for emergency, life-saving instruments and medicines.

Responding to an RTI query by Millennium Post inquiring about Delhi hospitals, the Delhi government assured that its hospitals have enough stock of such medicines to combat any critical condition.

"All the equipment, instruments and drugs in a hospital are considered as life-saving," the RTI response stated, adding that all items which are vital for patients are present in the hospitals in sufficient numbers.

In July this year, as many as 42 children died within 48 hours at Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. When over 70 infants died within that week in July, the hospital was pulled up authorities.

Soon after this incident, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal convened a review meeting with authorities of Delhi government hospitals, wherein he advised them to keep enough stock of life-saving medicines and equipment, so every critical case can be addressed.

The RTI response also gave a list of life-saving instruments available at Delhi government hospitals.

"Some of the important life-saving instruments we have are ventilators, ICU monitors, ECG machines, CTG machines, defibrillators, anaesthesia machines, ambu bags, etc," the reply stated.

Since coming to power in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party government has made healthcare and education as its thrust areas.

Some pro-poor schemes have also been taken to empower the health sector, but there are issues pertaining to stock of emergency drugs and availability of life-saving equipment.

Recently, Kejriwal pulled up top officials of GB Pant Hospital for lapses in the implementation of the said schemes in totality.

The Chief Minister himself monitors schemes for free medicines and surgery in private hospitals and resolution of complaints on the helpline numbers.

Kejriwal, along with Delhi Health minister Satyendar Jain, also monitor conditions of the hospitals.

The Delhi government runs 33 hospitals across the city, all of which together attend to around 8,000 to 10,000 patients in the emergency department each day.

Sources in the Delhi government said that the Health department is continuously monitoring the availability of the basic equipment in all its government hospitals.