HC says state can’t escape responsibility as govt claims facilities burdened

The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court that the staterun hospitals in Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar erstwhile Aurangabad which recently saw a spurt in patient deaths saw an influx of critically ill patients from private hospitals The court on Friday however noted that the state couldnrsquot escape its responsibilityThe state government told a division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor that there did not seem to be gross negligence on the part of the staterun hospitals stated a report in PTIWithin a span of 48 hours since September 30 per the official records 31 patientsmdashincluding many infantsmdashdied at Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded Meanwhile in another GMC and hospital at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 18 patients died between October 2 and 3Earlier this week the bench took suo moto cognisance of the deathsAdvocate General Birendra Saraf who is appearing for the Shindeled government told the court that all medicines and required equipment for patient management were available at the hospitals and administered according to protocolHe as stated in the report said that the patients who passed were brought in critical condition from other hospitalsHe said ldquoThere are issues There is no denying that However it does not seem like there was any gross negligence by the hospitals Of course it is sad what has happened People have died Every death is unfortunaterdquoHe further said that the doctors and medical staff at the hospitals were burdenedThe court asked how was the government planning to strengthen public healthcare and noted ldquoHow to strengthen it Everything is there on paper but if it is not trickling down then there is no point This is not just about procurement of medicines and equipment but the general state of healthcare in MaharashtrardquoCJ Upadhyaya added ldquoYou Maharashtra government cannot escape by saying there is a burden You are the State You cannot shift the responsibility to the private playerrdquoThe court observed that the state government had issued good policies but not implemented them They further sought to know the cause behind deaths in the Nanded and Sambhajinagar hospitalsJustice Doctor asked ldquoHow did the situation come to this What happenedrdquoTo which Saraf reportedly said that smaller and private hospitals refer patients to public hospitals when their condition deteriorates He further stated that most patients referred to these hospitals were in severely critical condition and that most of them died within a day including infantsSarad further claimed that these hospitals have earlier seen 11 to 20 deaths in a dayldquoPublic hospitals cannot ask people to go away They try to accommodate everyone At Nanded there were 12 cases of infant deaths Of this only three were born at the government hospital The remaining were brought in extremely critical condition from other hospitalsrdquo Saraf saidHe further said that the state has formed a threemember panel which after visiting all government hospitals will submit reportsThe court observed that the government had cited heavy patient inflow referrals from private and smaller hospitals and patients arriving in critical conditions as the reasons behind the deaths The bench also expressed disappointment at the reduced budgetary allocation for public healthcare in Maharashtra over the past three yearsAccording to the governments report the allocation for public health was 47837 of the total budget in 202021 50937 in 202122 42437 in 202223 and now stands at 40137 in 202324 The decline in funding is evident remarked the courtFurthermore the court raised concerns about staff vacancies in government hospitals and noted that senior and junior resident doctors and staff were primarily responsible for patient care in these hospitalsReferring to the Nanded government hospital the court highlighted a significant shortfall in senior resident doctors Out of 97 sanctioned positions only 49 were filled leaving a 5037 vacancy Chief Justice Upadhyaya questioned the justification for such vacancies emphasizing the heavy responsibilities borne by senior and junior doctorsGovernment counsel Saraf explained that additional posts were created in January of the current year leading to substantial vacancies He assured the court that these positions would be filled promptlyThe bench directed the Principal Secretaries of the Public Health Department and the Medical Education and Drugs Department to file affidavits detailing sanctioned posts in all government hospitals and the corresponding vacancies These affidavits should also outline the steps taken in the past six months to address these vacanciesThe court required the affidavits to disclose the demands for medicines medical supplies and equipment made by hospitals in Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in the past year along with the supplies provided against these demands The deadline for filing these affidavits is October 30 when the court will resume the matterAdditionally the court rebuked the Maharashtra government for failing to appoint a fullfledged Chief Executive Officer CEO for the Maharashtra Medicines Procurement Authority established in May this yearThe bench criticized the government for its inability to implement good policies effectively noting that the authority had been established in May but as of October it still lacked a permanent CEO The court instructed the government to appoint a CEO within two weeksThe courts order highlighted that the incident has underscored certain issues within the states healthcare system that demand the attention of the Maharashtra government These issues encompass problems encountered by hospitals including staff shortages and procurement of medicines medical supplies and equipment