SARGODHA: Two more infants died at District Headquarters (DHQ) Teaching Hospital on Monday while the condition of five babies was reported to be critical with no chances of survival.

Fifteen more babies were admitted to the hospital.

It is learnt that the hospital management is denying admission to infants brought from private hospitals and only the babies born in Maula Bakhsh Hospital were being treated in its nursery. The hospital sources deny the charges.

Though many high level inquiry teams have probed the matter of deaths of infants in DHQ Hospital but no responsibility has been fixed so far.

A doctor, on the condition of anonymity, said the parents were avoiding to bring their children to the DHQ hospital due to the news of negligence by its staff and preferred to go to Lahore or Rawalpindi.

He said condition of Maula Baksh Hospital, the sole gynecology hospital of Sargodha division, was worsening day by day and unless its functioning was improved the frequent deaths of infants in DHQ hospital would not be controlled.

Two more die, five in critical condition; PMA warns of boycott over action against doctors

Meanwhile, the Punjab chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has warned that if the Punjab government initiates criminal proceedings against the medical team of the paediatrics ward of the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital or any member is arrested, the association would stage a protest and stop working in all the public hospitals across the province.

This was stated by PMA’s Dr Sikandar Warriach, on Monday while talking to the media.

He said no investigation team had held DHQ Hospital staff guilty of any charge as the children died not due to negligence of the medical staff. He said five incubators were functioning properly and oxygen was available in the hospital and children were treated properly.

He alleged that newborns were brought in a critical condition due to mishandling by quacks and DHQ Hospital could not be blamed for it.

The hospital staff also staged a protest rally under the banner of the PMA and raised slogans against the government for harsh treatment of the doctors.

The inquiry is under way against 11 doctors including four consultants, including Dr Rabia Hashim, Khwaja Muhammad Arshad (teaching hospital), Dr Ataullah Niazi, Dr Arshad Rauf (DHQ Hospital) and seven duty doctors and nursing staff.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014