Crippling staff shortage sees 45,000 die at Teg Bahadur Hospital in just five years
If three infants dying every day at the Delhi Government-run Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital is appalling, the larger picture is even more ghastly.
Replying to an RTI query, GTB Hospital has admitted to a mind-numbing 45,000 deaths over a period of five years.
According to GTB authorities, this terrifyingly huge death toll is for the period January 2008 to February 2013, with infant mortality and maternal deaths accounting for over 21 per cent of the total number.
Mail Today had on Saturday reported the deaths of 3,374 newborn children at GTB Hospital in the last three years.
Crumbling infrastructure and a crippling dearth of medical supervisory and support staff at the hospital is behind most of these deaths.
GTB Hospital has revealed that 45,112 patients died at the hospital between 2008 and 2013. This implies 9,022 deaths every year, or 24 deaths daily at the hospital which has been hitting headlines for all the wrong reasons during the past few years.
According to hospital authorities, 5,541 still births were reported, while the number of maternal deaths stood at 677. Another 3,374 deaths of infants take the total maternal and children deaths to 9,592, which is 21.17 per cent of the total deaths.
Well-placed sources said GTB Hospital, the biggest government-run hospital in East and North-east Delhi, lacks critical patient care facilities.
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This includes a shortage of beds in general wards as well as in the intensive care unit (ICU).
“A majority of death cases pertain to hazardous diseases or severe injuries. Shortage of beds, dysfunctional critical care equipment and vacant posts of nursing and paramedical staff have added tremendously to the crisis,” a doctor at GTB Hospital told Mail Today on condition of anonymity.
The information provided by the office of the Medical Superintendent also presents an abysmal picture of patient care at the hospital, which caters to nearly 2,000 patients every day.
The data (see accompanying table) suggests that nearly one-fourth of the total posts for paramedical and nursing staff were vacant at the hospital, which severely affected the healthcare facilities.
Of the total 1,767 sanctioned posts of medical supervisory staff under 48 categories, 428 were vacant. This translates into 24.22 percent of the total sanctioned strength at the hospital.
Similarly, over one-third of the total posts for support staff have also been vacant for several years, resulting in acute shortage of manpower to cater to the rush of patients in various departments, including casualty.
Against the sanctioned strength of 612 support staff, GTB hospital has only 394 personnel while the remaining 222 posts lie vacant.
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