For the past some days, Valley’s only children healthcare institution, G B Pant Hospital is in news. But not for good reasons. There are reports of several children dying from lack of the timely attention by the doctors. Notably, drawing attention to this messy state of affairs at the hospital is a Bangalore based businessman Sahil Bhat who claims that twenty children died of neglect in ward No 4 in 24 hours.  The report carried by this paper on Friday quotes an attendant witnessing the death of six children on the night of Monday last. And on Saturday evening, one more child was reported dead.  Statistics are shocking. Surprisingly, the hospital administration has done little to explain the rise in deaths.  It almost appears that the hospital regards these deaths as normal. True, being the only children hospital in the Valley, G B Pant has to cater to a huge rush of ailing children, many of them newborn.  In fact, there is little space and the infrastructure to accommodate the unbroken throng of children, their parents and other relatives. On any given day, the wards are crowded, with sometimes three to four babies occupying one bed. While the hospital has only a sanctioned strength of 170 beds, the occupancy on any given day is upwards of 350. Attendants who don’t have a proper space to sit also crowd the beds and wards. Shortage of doctors and paramedic staff only worsens the problem.  This creates a suffocating environment of noise, disease and desperation.  Ironically, there is hardly an effort to highlight the hospital’s grave problems. In fact, the government has been the most indifferent.  Since its creation through late seventies, the government has hardly done anything to strengthen the hospital and expand its infrastructure. The best way out would be the construction of a new children hospital to keep up with the increase in population and the growing demand for the children’s healthcare. But as things stand, such a prospect appears remote. And with no commensurate alternative available in private sector, all we are left with is G B Pant. 

Lastupdate on : Sun, 13 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 13 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 IST