Within a year, 46 medical negligence cases in Ggn

Gurugram: The dichotomy between the situation of two major hospitals in Gurugram could not have been stark. On Thursday, while a complaint of medical negligence was withdrawn against Medanta Hospital, another formal complaint of gross irresponsibility resulting in loss of life was registered against Fortis Hospital.

However, official data shows that super-speciality hospitals – like Fortis and Medanta – are not the only ones facing a crisis of faith from patients and their families.

An recent reply by the Gurugram civic body to an RTI query by activist Mohit Khatana revealed that between 2016 and 2017, 46 cases of gross medical negligence were registered against private as well as government hospitals in the district.

Despite the loss of young lives – including seven-year-old Adhya at Fortis, seven-year-old Shaurya Pratap at Medanta and 12-year-old Prateek in Park Hospital last year – resulting in massive public outrage, incidents of medical negligence continue unabated.

Earlier this year, after being turned away by various private hospitals, 17-month-old Sudipta Debnath was finally admitted to Artemis Hospital, where she breathed her last.

Her family alleged that the hospital overcharged them and was not transparent in its communication.

Moreover, the incident of a pregnant woman being denied admission due to lack of Aadhaar resulted in widespread criticism of the staff at Civil Hospital.

The government hospital has also been in the news for a three-month-old boy losing his life due to delay in treatment and a septuagenarian who was brought in a cart due to no ambulance available.

With 3,643 deaths in the last 11 months, an average of 11 people lose their lives daily at major private hospitals across Gurugram.

With over 1,430 deaths, Medanta leads the dubious list, with four deaths daily.

It is followed by Artemis with 715 deaths, Park with 505, Paras Hospital with 458, Fortis with 314 and Max Hospital with 221.

The data not only reflects the high dependence of Gurugram residents on private hospitals, but also how heavily residents from neighbouring areas like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are dependent on Gurugram's private healthcare system

In the past, various inspections have been undertaken by the Food and Drugs department of Haryana government, in both small and large super-speciality hospitals, and many lapses have been found.

Notwithstanding the controversies surrounding top Gurugram hospitals, a recent RTI petition showed a damming report that more than 224 private clinics in the district are being operated by quacks.

Taking cognisance of the issue, the Haryana government wishes to bring in the Clinical Establishment Act.

It has, however, not been an easy ride for the government, as doctors have expressed their discontent over the proposed law and went on several strikes.