Committee on deaths due to oxygen shortage in Delhi to begin work soon: Sisodia

The panel set up by the government is also entrusted with ascertaining the criteria for compensation to be given to the families

New Delhi: Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said that a committee set up by the Delhi government to review cases of deaths of Covid-19 patients because of oxygen shortage in hospitals will soon start functioning, once the file is approved by lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. (PTI)

“In Delhi, during the second wave, we have come across information concerning deaths [that took place] because of oxygen shortage in hospitals, in light of which the Delhi government set up a committee of medical experts... The file concerning setting up the committee has been sent to the office of the lieutenant governor,” said Sisodia in a live streamed video press briefing on Friday

He further said, “As soon as it receives L-G’s approval, the committee will start functioning. The committee is supposed to hold meetings twice every week and review each case. In such cases, relatives of the deceased are entitled to a financial assistance of (up to) ₹5 lakh.”

The panel set up by the government is also entrusted with ascertaining the criteria for compensation to be given to the families. To be sure, the family of any Delhi resident who dies of Covid-19 is supposed to be given ₹50,000 compensation under a separate scheme. This panel will decide on any compensation over and above this amount. The compensation can be up to ₹5 lakh, said a government order issued on May 27, a copy of which HT has seen.

“The committee will check whether oxygen was being used properly in the hospitals as per the norms. The committee will check the steps taken by the hospital to maintain sufficient oxygen stock with respect to patients admitted therein,” the order read.

A senior officer in the office of Delhi’s lieutenant governor, said, “Once the file is received, it will be processed immediately.”

The committee includes a doctor from the department of medicine and another from anaesthesia at Lok Nayak Hospital, an anaesthetist from Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, an official from the directorate general of health services, and two heads of private hospitals.

At least 32 people in two city hospitals died ostensibly due to oxygen shortage in April and May.

Twenty patients, most of whom were admitted to the intensive care unit in Jaipur Golden Hospital died around midnight on April 23 after the pressure in the oxygen system became low when the hospital switched from liquid medical oxygen to oxygen cylinders.

Twelve more people, including the head of the department of gastroenterology, died in Batra Hospital on May 2 when the hospital was forced to switch to oxygen cylinders after it ran out of liquid oxygen for 80 minutes.