Bhandara fire : Civil surgeon suspended; Transfer of one, three terminated
Mumbai : The inquiry committee on Wednesday submitted the report of the fire accident at SNCU at Bhandara District Hospital. As per his recommendation, the district surgeon has been suspended for dereliction of duty in the case. It was also decided to transfer additional district surgeons, suspend SNCU department heads, nurses and terminate the services of two superintendents and a paediatrician, said Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday.
Bhandara District Surgeon Dr. Pramod Khandate has been suspended. Additional District Surgeon Dr. Sunila Bade transferred to non-executive post, Medical Officer Dr. Archana Meshram has been suspended, Nurse Jyoti Bharaskar has been suspended, while contract superintendents Smita Ambilduke and Shubhangi Sathwane have been suspended and contract paediatrician Dr. Sushil Ambade has been suspended.
Learning from this tragedy,health audit of all the district hospitals in the state will be done in 15 days by the state government. A committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Health Commissioner Dr Ramaswamy and an action plan will be prepared after receiving his report, Health Minister Tope said. The Health Minister said that a letter has been sent to all the Guardian Ministers regarding the provision of funds for health institutions through the District Planning Development Committee.
The health minister said that according to the opinion of the inquiry committee, there was a suspicion of a fire in the electric circuit in the SNCU. Ten newborns died in this unfortunate incident. A committee headed by Nagpur Divisional Commissioner inquired into the incident. It includes suspension and termination of service of the medical officers, nurses and senior officers in charge of the unit.
