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Four Covid patients die at Jammu’s Batra hospital, kin allege oxygen crunch
Victims’ kin say they were not informed about status of oxygen supply at the hospital; accuse doctors and nurses of negligence
After four Covid-19 patients died on Saturday at Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS) and Hospital, popularly known as Batra hospital, on the outskirts of Jammu city, the deceased’s family members created a ruckus and alleged shortage of oxygen and negligence of the hospital management.
The family members were seen weeping inconsolably at the hospital, which is located in the Sidhra area.
Those who lost their lives are Irshad Ahmad Hamal, Haider Ali, Manjeet Singh and Bitta Kumari Kher.
Though the J&K government denied the allegations, ASCOMS principal Dr Pawan Malhotra admitted that the hospital faced some hiccups in oxygen supply on Saturday morning, but denied any shortage.
“There was shortage of cylinders this morning. We had informed the government and it intervened. , We had tried to procure them last night. Our requirement is 350 cylinders per day and yesterday, we had 294,” said Dr Malhotra.
“We had apprised the government of the status of oxygen at the hospital on Friday itself. For the last three days, we have not been admitting Covid patients as we were not being able to cope with the load. But, those who had already been hospitalised, were being taken care of,” he said.
Dr Malhotra said that the kin of all four deceased were apprised of the serious condition of the patients and that they may not survive. “We have 32 more patients on oxygen support. The hospital has not taken in any new patients for the last three days. We had given admitted patients the option to take voluntary discharge, if they wish to,” he added.
Dr Malhotra said that Kher and Haider Ali had tested Covid negative, but their lungs had suffered extensive damage. “Their lungs were not functioning independently. Hamal and Manjeet Singh were Covid positive and they too, could not survive,” he added.
However, the families of the deceased patients outrightly denied the claims of the principal and said that the hospital kept them in dark about the status of oxygen supply. They also accused doctors and nursing staff at the Covid ward of negligence.
One of the protesting relatives said that their family member was undergoing treatment at the hospital for the last 17 days, but died due to non-availability of oxygen.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday clarified that no patient has died due to shortage of oxygen supply at ASCOM hospital, as the supply is being replenished regularly, as per requirement raised.
“Four deaths reported in Batra hospital Jammu today (Saturday) occurred because of routine medical reasons, not because of shortage of oxygen,” said a statement of the administration on its Twitter handle.
