Just three nurses to take care of 60 babies at Nanded govt hospital, says Ashok Chavan

Ashok Chavan. File Pic

More than 60 infants were admitted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the government hospital in Maharashtra's Nanded city where 31 patients died in a span of 48 hours a few days ago, but there were only three nurses to take care of the babies, Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said on Tuesday, reported news agency PTI.

One warmer was used to treat three babies at a time and manpower at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital's NICU was of just three nurses, said the MLA from Bhokar in Nanded district, reported PTI.

Chavan was speaking to the media after attending a party meeting here in central Maharashtra.

"When I visited the (NICU) ward after the incident (of 24 patients dying in a single day and 7 more in the next 24 hours) in the government-run hospital (in Nanded), I saw one warmer being used to treat three infants at a time. Just three nurses were taking care of more than 60 infants in the ward," he said.

Chavan said the hospital, named after his late father, has patients more than its capacity.

"It is a 500-bed hospital, but more than 1,000 patients are admitted there. It is a fact that the facility was short on medicines and posts of doctors were also vacant. We have given 40 to 50 nurses to the hospital from our side. The government says they will fill up the vacancies. But till then what should be done?" Ashok Chavan asked, reported PTI.

After multiple deaths at the hospital in late September and early October, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said there was no shortage of medicines at the state-run health facility.

"We don't want to engage in a blame game here, but work should be done," Chavan added.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday said if the country needs "financially and educationally sound communities" the Centre should conduct the decennial census which has been pending since 2021.

He said the I-N-D-I-A bloc allies of Congress have decided to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on merit in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and elsewhere.

According to Patole, the Congress party structure is being set up across eight districts in Marathwada and about 70 per cent of work is complete. Marathwada region was considered the stronghold of Shiv Sena (undivided) and its former ally BJP.

(With inputs from PTI)