The health regulatory commission on Friday asked AMRI Hospitals Salt Lake to pay a compensation of Rs 9 lakh to the family of a 13-year-old girl who died because of “inordinate delay” in admission and shifting her to another hospital of the chain.
Retired judge Ashim Banerjee, chairperson of the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission, said Ratan Debnath had taken her daughter to AMRI Salt Lake with fever and got her admitted under an ENT specialist and a paediatrician.
“...She was admitted to the bed around 4pm. She was without any treatment for the whole day,” Banerjee said.
The girl’s condition worsened at night and the doctors advised that she be shifted to the paediatric intensive care unit (Picu). As AMRI Salt Lake does not have such a unit, they arranged for a bed at AMRI Mukundapur.
“AMRI Mukundapur offered a bed in their Picu around 9.30am the next day and the bed was ready by 11.30am, but she was discharged (from AMRI Salt Lake) at 5.45pm. By the time she was shifted, AMRI Mukundapur could not save the patient,” he said.
“AMRI Salt Lake has been found guilty of inordinate delay in admission and… transfer. We have asked them to pay a compensation of Rs 9 lakh,” Banerjee said.
Rupak Barua, Group CEO, AMRI Hospitals said: "The directive given by the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission is arbitrary and passed without considering all the facts at hand. The allegations of medical negligence are unfounded and any ruling on it should be issued only after considering every aspect of the case, after hearing all parties concerned. The Commission has already imposed a fine on us once before in the same case. How can someone be penalised twice against the same complaint? When it comes to a fair hearing, we are ready to cooperate with all relevant documents."
Last month, the commission had asked the Mukundapur and Salt Lake units to refund Rs 5,492 and Rs 9,118, respectively, to the family over a dispute on billing in the same case.