Bengaluru: A 19-month-old girl, who had suffered critical head injuries after falling from the first floor balcony of her house, died after she was denied treatment by two premier hospitals – St Martha’s and Nimhans – in the city on Monday. Her parents were made to run around for over three hours before she was her admitted at Indira Gandhi Hospital after protests by local residents.
St Martha’s Hospital and Nimhans had denied admission, saying that they did not have ventilators to stabilise the child.
From Indira Gandhi Hospital, Gagana was taken in a critical condition to National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) around 9.30 pm. She was being treated at the neurosurgery department for severe head injuries when she died around 9.45 pm. Nimhans authorities were not available for comment.
Gagana, the younger daughter of Venkatesh and Suma – residents of Narayan Swamy Garden on J.C. Road, fell from the balcony of their house on the first floor around 10.15 am. Venkatesh was at work, while Suma was busy in the kitchen on the second floor when the child crashed head first and fractured her skull.
The neighbours, who saw the little girl falling, alerted Suma, who came out to the second floor balcony to see her daughter lying in a pool of blood. She immediately called Venkatesh – an employee at a garment factory. He rushed back from work, called a 108 Ambulance and took the child to St. Martha’s Hospital. The hospital provided her only the first-aid and asked the parents to take her to Nimhans as they did not have neurosurgeons.
After travelling through peak hour traffic, Nimhans staff told Gagana’s parents that the girl cannot be admitted as the institute too does not have a ventilator.
Suma and Venkatesh pleaded with the staff for an ambulance with a ventilator and rushed her to Indira Gandhi Hospital, where the child was treated for over an hour in the ambulance as this healthcare facility too did not have the ventilator.
Venkatesh told Deccan Chronicle, “I was in office when I got the call around 10.15 am. I rushed back home, called for the ambulance and brought my child to St. Martha’s. The doctors gave her first-aid but refused to admit her, saying they did not have a neurosurgeon. They referred us to Nimhans.” Nimhans, which is expected to treat patients with critical head injuries, asked the parents to take their ward to Indira Gandhi Hospital. A harried Venkatesh said, “Nimhans told us to take our daughter to Indira Gandhi Hospital and said that the doctor would directly arrive there and treat the child.”
Venkatesh alleged that when they came to Indira Gandhi Hospital, the doctors shooed them away. It was only after a few local residents, who saw the parents fighting to save their daughter, informed the media and the police that the doctors attended on her.
A team of policemen from Jayanagar police station had been stationed at the hospital to maintain the law and order situation.
Hospitals react
The medical officer at St Martha’s said, “In such cases, we need a paediatric neurosurgeon and our neurosurgeon was operating somewhere else and so we had to refer the child to Nimhans. Also, we treated the child until she was stable.”
Dr Asha Benakappa, Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, said, “The child came to us with a small referral note from Nimhans asking us to send the child for ventilation. The moment that request was received we started looking at the logistics of arranging for a ventilator as we have 11 ventilators and all were full."
She said that to admit baby Gagana they had to put another child on non-invasive ventilation. “It takes time. We cannot immediately just put a child on the ventilator. After arranging for a ventilator we had to clean the bed and follow other health protocols of admission, so that infection is not spread from the previous child. In practical terms, there has been no delay from our end," she said. The director, however, said that she would look into reports of “ill-treating” the child’s parents. “If the reports are found true, we will take strict action against those guilty.”
