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Parents of infant who died at Bengaluru hospital allege delay in treatment
They accused the hospital of withholding the baby’s body for over 24 hours after his demise and also were made to wait for over one hour to admit him.
The parents of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy, who died at Bengaluru’s National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) on Wednesday, held a protest on Thursday, accusing the hospital of delaying the infant’s treatment. They accused the hospital of withholding the baby’s body for over 24 hours after his demise and also were made to wait for over one hour to admit him.
The child, son of Venkatesh and Jyothi, had sustained a head injuries at his home in Basavanagudi of Chikkamagaluru and was initially admitted to the Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, but the doctors recommended transferring him to NIMHANS. The baby was then rushed to NIMhANS, Bengaluru for treatment, where he died.
Venting his frustration, the child’s father, Venkatesh, said, “We waited for an hour and a half. If they had cooperated, they probably would have been able to save him. The body is still in the ambulance.”
Venkatesh expressed his dissatisfaction towards the hospital’s communication and alleged lack of cooperation from them. “This is the first time we came to Bengaluru hoping that the baby would be saved and would be fine if we brought him here. I don’t know about the beds, I am new here. They [hospital staff] came and injected something. They didn’t even speak to us and when we went to speak, they didn’t say anything,” Venkatesh told the media.
According to the statement released by NIMHANS on Thursday, the child, who had fallen from a height of four feet, was taken to Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences on Tuesday at 7 pm. The infant had suffered severe brain injury, and as the prognosis was poor, the parents were advised not to shift the child to National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences [NIMHANS], it said.
The ambulance driver covered the 224 km distance in 1 hour and 40 minutes, reaching NIMHANS. The baby was brought to NIMHANS on ventilator support at around 2.30 pm on Wednesday, it added. The patient received supportive measures, said NIMHANS, while explaining the medical condition of the child and the clinical investigation done.
However, the infant went into cardiac arrest at around 3 pm and could not be revived. “After diagnosis the family was explained about the condition of the patient and child’s health was unlikely to improve with the treatment. They were also communicated about the unavailability of the ventilator bed at the hospital,” the NIMHANS statement said. “He [the baby] was declared dead at 4.05 pm on Wednesday,” the hospital added.
Meanwhile, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said he would discuss the matter with NIMHANS director when reporters asked him about the incident. “I will discuss the matter with them,” he said.
