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Jalandhar ICU deaths: Book those responsible, merely suspending doctors won’t help: Pargat
“Three lives have been lost. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s criminal negligence. The government must file FIRs against those responsible. Simply suspending doctors will not save face. Accountability must begin from the top,” Pargat said
Pargat Singh, Jalandhar Cantt MLA said, “The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government cannot escape responsibility by merely suspending a few doctors”.
“Three lives have been lost. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s criminal negligence. The government must file FIRs against those responsible. Simply suspending doctors will not save face. Accountability must begin from the top,” he said
Pargat alleged that the health minister is directly responsible for this failure and demanded his immediate resignation.
‘Made scapegoat, career at stake’: One of suspended docs to PCMSA
One of the suspended doctors, Dr Sunakshi, has written to the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association, seeking urgent appeal for fair assent regarding disciplinary action taken against the doctors of the civil hospital, Jalandhar.
“While the loss of any life is heartbreaking and demands accountability, I strongly feel that I have been unfairly targeted and made a scapegoat in a situation that is far more complex than has been publicly portrayed,” she wrote.
“The immediate leap to disciplinary action without what feels like a complete and transparent investigation into all contributing factors, including potential systemic failures, infrastructure limitations, and the true chain of events, is deeply demoralising,” she added.
“My professional life and reputation are at stake. The morale and confidence of healthcare providers like myself are paramount, and it is crucial to ensure that such incidents are investigated with the utmost diligence and impartiality,” she said in a statement.
Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh on Wednesday suspended the medical superintendent, senior medical officer and consultant anaesthesiologist of the Jalandhar civil hospital, where three patients died in the ICU after disruption in the oxygen supply on July 27, besides terminating the services of a newly appointed house surgeon.
Acting on the report of a probe team, the health minister said medical superintendent Dr Raj Kumar, senior medical officer Dr Surjit Singh and consultant anaesthesiologist Dr Sunakshi had been placed under suspension, while the services of Dr Shaminder Singh, the house surgeon, have been terminated with immediate effect.
Medical superintendent Dr Raj Kumar said he is yet to go through the findings, adding that he could only say that “all the proceedings were carried out without hearing their plea”.
PCMSA to form independent fact-finding committee
Meanwhile, the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association has decided to constitute an independent fact-finding committee, which will visit the Jalandhar civil hospital on Friday.
The committee comprises one SMO-level officer, two medical specialists and two anaesthetists. “Till the time the fact-finding committee submits its report, the PCMSA will refrain from issuing any press release/statement,” said the PCMSA, Punjab.
Gaurav Sethi, general secretary, PCMS, Jalandhar rural, said the death of three critical patients on ventilator support at Punjab’s largest civil hospital in Jalandhar demands accountability not just from frontline doctors but also from top authorities, health minister, principal secretary, director, PHSC, and director health.
“The immediate suspension of all four doctors, including a six-month pregnant woman just returning from medical leave, reeks of scapegoating and deflection. This knee-jerk reaction ignores the glaring systemic and technical failures that likely underlie the incident. Doctors are not engineers; they rely on functional infrastructure and support systems. What about the role of staff nurses or paramedical staff who could have raised the alarm earlier?” he said.
