Chandigarh to take up referral deaths with neighbouring states

Chandigarh health officials will soon be raising the issue of ‘maternal’ and ‘referral’ deaths with their counterparts in neighbouring states.

Two referral cases being brought dead to UT government hospitals after obstetricians were purportedly not available at hospitals in Punjab over the last month has set alarm bells ringing in the Chandigarh health department. UT health officials will soon be raising the issue of ‘maternal’ and ‘referral’ deaths with their counterparts in neighbouring states.

Chandigarh health department authorities say patients from neighbouring states are unnecessarily being referred to UT hospitals for reasons such as “non availability of obstetricians”, which are avoidable (HT File)

On August 22, a woman, who delivered a child in Chamkaur Sahib in Punjab’s Rupnagar district, developed complications due to a retained placenta (placenta not delivered after birth). She was first referred to the Civil Hospital in Ropar, which further referred her to a government hospital in Phase 6, Mohali, who sent her to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.However, by the time she reached the premier hospital she had passed away due to complications.

In another case, a woman, who had been suffering from amenorrhea (the absence of menstruation) for three months was referred from a health facility in Morinda, also in Rupnagar district, to a private nursing home in Sirhind. From there, she was told to go to either PGIMER or the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh. However, the woman passed away en route and was brought dead to the Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16.

UT health department authorities say patients from neighbouring states are unnecessarily being referred to UT hospitals for reasons such as “non availability of obstetricians”, which are avoidable. “The labour rooms and mother and child wards of government hospitals in Chandigarh are already overburdened and many times hospitals are forced to accommodate more than one patient or new born child on one bed,” a health official said.

Though hospitals such as PGIMER and GMCH-32 are tertiary care hospitals, even routine cases, which can be treated at state-level hospitals, are referred to them, due to which patients with complex health conditions do not get requisite facilities, they say.

‘Will take up matter with other states’

UT health secretary Yashpal Garg said, “Many times, patients are referred to Chandigarh hospitals even when they can be treated in hospitals in their state. As the referral deaths are grievous, we will take up the matter with the Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh government. We will request them to strengthen delivery points and referral units in their respective states so that pressure on health facilities in Chandigarh is reduced.”

‘PGIMER most over-burdened with referrals’

PGIMER, an institute of national importance, receives most the referrals. Over 35% of the total patients admitted to PGIMER belong to Punjab. As they receive so many referral cases, the hospital’s emergencies run double their capacity with patients at times treated on stretcher trolleys.

PGIMER director Dr Vivek Lal said, “PGI stands for patients and will continue to treat referral patients. However, in most of cases, the referrals can be treated at primary health institutes. Neighbouring states must strengthen their own infrastructure and should provide timely and all possible treatment at primary facilities to avoid referral deaths. Many referral deaths in emergency situations go unreported.”