Post-Mortem Delay: Health Minister Orders Probe Into Zaheerabad Hospital Mess

Health minister Damodar Rajanarsimha has ordered a probe into the availability of doctors and facilities at the Zaheerabad Area Hospital, following a delay in conducting post-mortems on two accident victims at the facility.

Reports said the bodies of two victims were brought to the hospital after a road accident near Sajapur on Thursday morning, but the post-mortem had not been conducted even by the evening as doctors were reportedly unavailable. The families subsequently held a protest outside the hospital against the delay.

The reports also raised concerns over a shortage of doctors, the absence of the designated duty doctor and a private doctor treating patients at the facility.

Rajanarsimha spoke to Sangareddy district collector Prateek Jain and principal secretary, health, Dr Christina Z. Chongthu over the reports and ordered an inquiry. He expressed anger over the absence of doctors and the reported presence of a private doctor in place of the duty doctor, and directed officials to take immediate stringent action against those found responsible.

The hospital has disputed the claim that private persons were deployed to treat patients. Hospital superintendent Dr Kiran said the doctor on duty, Dr Bhavana, had been absent without authorisation and was issued a memo. He said a doctor from the Kohir hospital was brought in to provide medical services in her place. The minister directed officials to ensure that such incidents do not recur and that doctors remain available for patients at the government hospital.