VISAKHAPATNAM: Government hospitals in Visakhapatnam – King George Hospital and Victoria General Hospital – both crammed with patients, are unsafe for newborns.
In Victoria, popularly known as Gosha hospital, a ceiling fan came off the hook and crashed on the floor, missing two newborn babies and their mothers who had been nursing them. Mothers got terrified and raised an alarm.
“We have started checking the fans. A major mishap could be avoided as the fan fell between two beds,” said Victoria General Hospital superintendent Dr Vijay Kumar.
Following the incident, district collector Dr. A. Mallikarjuna has asked superintendents of both Kind George and Victoria to check the fans using extra manpower.
It may be recalled in February 2017, a major fire broke out on the first floor of Victoria General Hospital. But the newborn babies and their mothers had a miraculous escape.
In another incident, the body of a baby girl had been found under mysterious circumstances in a toilet near King George Hospital’s labour room attached to the gynaecology ward. One Town police registered a case under Section 174 CRPC (suspicious death) after a complaint from hospital staff.
Fingerprints had been collected by clues team and CCTV footage of the hospital examined. Post mortem had also been performed on the body. As per a preliminary enquiry, hospital staff found that the baby did not belong to any of the in-patients of the gynaecology ward.
According to hospital records, five new born babies have died during the last four months at these hospitals.
