Awards compensation of Rs.5 lakh for woman’s death due to absence of medical officer
Establishing primary health centres (PHCs) in rural pockets and classifying them as 24- hour maternity hospitals will be of no use unless the government makes sure that doctors/medical officers are available there to attend to emergencies, the Madras High Court has said.
Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar made the observation while directing the Director of Primary Health Services to pay compensation of Rs.5 lakh to a brick kiln labourer, whose wife died due to absence of a doctor to treat her at the Saptoor PHC near here after she was delivered of a baby girl on January 1.
The judge pointed out that the death took place just two months, after the High Court had directed the State government to pay Rs.5 lakh to an aged man whose daughter died at the same PHC due to non-availability of doctor after she was delivered of a baby boy.
“This not only demonstrates the careless and indifferent attitude on the part of the medical officer of the primary health centre but also the insensitivity of Respondents 1 (Director of Primary Health Services) and 2 (Deputy Director of Health Services, Madurai),” he said.
“A maternity hospital without a qualified doctor is like a school without teachers, a vehicle without driver, a police station without policemen and an aircraft without pilot. Non-availability of doctor in a 24- hour maternity hospital must be viewed seriously by the government, which is running a welfare administration for the benefit of the people.” Further, the judge said the Deputy Director had, in his counter affidavit, admitted that a doctor attended on the petitioner’s wife only at 9.15 a.m. though she was admitted to the PHC at 2 a.m. and remained critical after the delivery at 3.15 a.m. She died at noon.