MULTAN: The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has yet to decide a case of death of a female patient due to the alleged negligence of a private hospital staff even after the passage of one and half year of the incident.

Complainant Umme Kalsoom, of Basti Khudadad, lodged an online complaint with the PHC on May 9, 2016 that her sister Umaira Husain (23) was admitted to the Akhtar Sultana Memorial Hospital on May 7 for diarrhea and fever treatment. She was examined by Dr Rubina Akhtar.

The patient also gave birth to a baby on the same day through normal delivery though the expected delivery date was May 25.

She stated that during the labour procedure, she bled heavily but the doctor packed the uterus. The patient remained at the hospital for 13 hours without any doctor’s presence in the hospital while bleeding continued. She said when the family tried to shift the patient, the staff did not allow them as they were treating her by getting instructions from the doctor on telephone.

The doctor referred the patient to other private hospital when her condition deteriorated. The family, however, took the patient to the Nishtar Hospital for the doctor was not available at other private hospital.

The patient died at the Nishtar Hospital within 25 minutes after being shifted there.The family held a protest demonstration outside the office of district health authority and a two-member inquiry committee including District Health Officer Dr Qazi Abdullah Sabir and Deputy Drug Controller Asad Ibrar was constituted on the direction of Deputy Commissioner Nadir Chattha on May 24. The committee grilled Dr Akhtar, examined the reports and records. Their verdict was that the reports, generated by hospital’s own lab, were questionable declaring the private hospital not qualified enough to look after the patient.

The committee agreed with the examination notes of Nishtar Hospital’s on duty gynecologist massive bleeding caused circulatory insufficiency and death.

The committee on July 14, 2016 recommended necessary action but in vain.

The PHC conducted four hearings into the case and on November 2, 2016 the PHC informed the complainant that an obstetrics and gynecology expert said the attendant doctor either could not detect vaginal tear or was unable to stitch it properly and that she should have referred the patient much earlier to other hospital before onset of irreversible shock. On the other hand, on Oct 3, the commission initiated an inquiry into complaints of harassment against Kalsoom and her husband on a plea by Dr Akhtar and the staff of her hospital.

She said the action was illegal under the PHC Act of 2010.

DC Chattha said that he would look into the matter while PHC Communication Officer Khurram Khizar Khan said that the case would be presented in the meeting of the PHC Board of Commissioners but the meeting was not scheduled yet.

“It could take three months to call the meeting of the board where approval to the recommendations would be done,” he said.

He said that delay of one and half year to decide a complaint was not extraordinary.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2017