Today, On 27th March, The Bombay High Court set up an expert committee to investigate recent deaths in Maharashtra hospitals. The committee will visit government hospitals in Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar to assess their infrastructure and medical facilities. This move follows concerns over hospital conditions and patient care. The court aims to ensure necessary improvements and accountability in the healthcare system.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court established a five-member expert committee to recommend both short-term and long-term measures aimed at investigating the deaths that occurred in two government hospitals in Maharashtra.
The committee is also charged with suggesting steps to prevent such incidents in the future.
The focus will be on the circumstances surrounding over 31 deaths, including those of infants, at Government Medical College in Nanded, as well as 14 fatalities at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Government Hospital in October 2023.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice MS Karnik appointed the expert panel, which includes the Secretary of Medical and Health Sciences, the Director of Health Sciences, and the Deans of JJ Medical College, Nanded Medical College, and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Medical College.
The committee is tasked with visiting both hospitals to evaluate the existing infrastructure and medical facilities.
It is expected to submit a detailed report to the court within two months, by June 16.
The court was hearing a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) initiated due to concerns about the high number of deaths in government hospitals, attributed to a shortage of medical equipment like ventilators and insufficient staffing.
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Initially, the government assured the court that no gross negligence had been identified but clarified that the hospitals had been overwhelmed by a significant influx of critically ill patients, many of whom were referred from private hospitals and smaller clinics.
In subsequent hearings, Amicus Curiae Mohit Khanna highlighted that the State had repeatedly failed to utilize the budget allocated for health services and that there were significant vacancies for doctors and nursing staff in these hospitals.
The court recognized that while an immediate overhaul of the state’s healthcare infrastructure was not feasible, there was a pressing need for practical short-term and long-term solutions.
Highlighting the importance of implementing immediate corrective measures, The bench stated,
“It is necessary to take small steps before giant leaps,”
As a result, the expert committee was assigned the task of identifying both immediate and long-term solutions to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.
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