IMA decries action against docs, nurses after 11 Covid patients died in Maharashtra hospital fire

Condoling the death of 11 Covid patients in a fire at a government hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar earlier this month, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Wednesday decried the action taken against doctors and nurses, saying it raised serious questions about the safety of professionals.

The doctors' body said the fire incident exposes the collective responsibility of the government, administration, allied departments of engineering, and maintenance.

''It is extremely painful to know that the doctors and staff nurses who were involved in the medical care of the patients in the ICU have been accused of negligence.

''Slapping doctors and nurses with charges under Sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code by authorities has raised serious questions about the safety of professionals in the democratic country,'' the IMA said.

The Maharashtra government has suspended Ahmednagar district civil surgeon and thee other health officials and terminated services of two staff nurses after 11 COVID-19 patients died in a blaze in the ICU of the district civil hospital. Later, a woman medical officer and three staff nurses were arrested on the charge of causing death by negligence.

The IMA, in a statement, said, ''While specialised task departments like fire, electricity and PWD exist in all government institutions, action against doctors and nurses is nothing but swaying away from responsibilities by the machinery.'' Mechanisms of fire audit, maintenance and firefighting are allocated responsibilities of these specialized departments. Conducting fire audits, electrical audits at regular intervals is the responsibility of the specific departments in the system, the doctors' body said.

''It is further learned that requisition for fire safety devices was put up. A fire audit of the hospital was conducted a few months back as announced by the health department. But the task of installing firefighting systems had allegedly been held up due to technical reasons, it said in the statement.

Apart from fire extinguishers, the civil hospital lacked a concrete firefighting system and allegedly had no fire sprinklers, hydrants or even smoke detectors, the IMA said.

''Instead of knee-jerk reactions, it is time for all stakeholders concerned to audit the safety norms on physical infrastructure, violence prevention, and ensure adequate funds for the upkeep and maintenance of the equipment to ensure patient safety,'' it added.

Extending support to doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district protesting the arrests, the IMA demanded the release of the arrested doctor and nurses.

''The IMA Headquarters also demands the Maharashtra government should commence a threadbare study on this incident with the objective of formulating practical guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future for which we assure our full support,'' the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)