Court orders probe into deaths of two women in J&K's Anantnag

A court in J&K's Anantnag district has ordered a probe into the deaths of two pregnant women due to alleged medical negligence. The court has directed SSP Anantnag to hold an inquiry within 15 days and to book those found guilty under the law.

Srinagar: A court in J&K's Anantnag district on Monday ordered a probe into the deaths of two pregnant women due to alleged medical negligence.

Anantnag Principal District and Sessions Judge directed the Anantnag SSP to hold an inquiry within 15 days and to book those found guilty under the law.

The court held that, according to a video clip that had gone viral and the statement of some responsible citizens, a pregnant woman was ferried on a trolley by her relatives on the streets of Anantnag town after hospital authorities refused an ambulance to shift her.

"The lady was perhaps allowed to die on the road as the hospital authorities refused to admit her.

This is not the only incident. Earlier also, a lady died along with her twins after the hospital in Bijbehara town refused to admit her," the court observed taking a very serious view of the situation.

Many big hospitals in Kashmir, especially those meant for secondary and tertiary healthcare, have been designated as COVID-19 hospitals, due to which they are not functioning to their full capacities for other patients.

Sources at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Medical College Hospital at Bemina in Srinagar city has been designated as a level 3 COVID-19 hospital.

According to sources only two of the 62 coronavirus cases admitted at this hospital at present needed hospitalisation as per Health Ministry guidelines. Other 60 patients were asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients and do not require hospital quarantine, the sources claimed.

The sources said that as per the Supreme Court directions and subsequent Ministry advisory these patients have to be managed at home, preferably in a separate room with adequate isolation facilities.

Similarly, Kashmir's largest tertiary care hospital - SKIMS at Soura - has also not been running to its full capacity. Elective surgeries, including many other routine procedures, are allegedly not undertaken, except for the medical emergencies.

IANS