KARACHI: Announcing an ‘out of court’ settlement with the Darul Sehat Hospital, father of the baby girl Nashwa who had died due to negligence of the hospital staff at hospital, Qaiser Ali on Wednesday announced to withdraw the case against the hospital owners and staff on the condition that hospital administration would establish a state-of-the-art Pediatric ICU at the health facility latest by May 2020.
“We have pardoned everybody involved in murder of our daughter for the sake of Almighty Allah and would not pursue our case against the Darul Sehat Hospital (DSH) Administration including its owners Amir Waliuddin Chishti, Dr. Syed Ali Farhan, female nurse Sobia and nursing assistant Aga Moeez. As per agreement, hospital administration would meet certain conditions including establishment of a Pediatric ICU at the hospital by May 2020”, Qaiser Ali, father of baby girl Nashwa Ali told a crowded news conference at Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Wednesday.
The 9-month old Nashwa Ali had passed away on April 22, 2019 at the hospital after remaining paralyzed for several days after being injected with a drug that was wrongly administered to her at Darul Sehat Hospital where she was taken for treatment of diarrhea along with her twin sister. The case remained in headlines for weeks in entire country and due to strong pressure from the media, people and political parties Darul Sehat Hospital was sealed by the Sindh Health Care Commission (SHCC) while several of the hospital employees including a female nurse and a male nursing assistant were taken into custody by the police after registration of a case against them and the hospital owners.
According to the agreement signed by the parents of Nashwa Ali and the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the M/S Darul Shifa that owns the Darul Sehat Hospital, owners of the DSH would annually pay Rs.five million to “Nashwa Fund”, established by the deceased girl’s parents for the treatment of the needy and deserving patients. The agreement further states that Darul Sehat Administration would establish a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the health facility, which are very few in the country for the treatment of extremely sick children. The Darul Sehat administration is supposed to establish the PICU by May 31, 2019 and it should be named as “Baby Nashwa PICU”.
In addition to that, the Darul Sehat administration further agreed to provide at least one scholarship to a medical student on annual basis for his or her MBBS or BDS education at the medical and dental college of the hospital, the agreement states. The name of the student would be forwarded to the college administration by the Nashwa's parents.
Qaiser Ali said mother of the female nurse Sobia and others had requested them to pardon all those involved in the negligence leading to death of their daughter and added they are still pursuing their demands for a judicial inquiry into the death.
“What we have done today would save the lives of children through the state of the art Pediatric ICU at the hospital and some needy and deserving student would get medical education free of charge and funds would be available for the treatment of needy and deserving people,”he added.
Nashwa's father said they fought the case of their daughter to prevent more children dying from medical negligence and they had three demands which were partially fulfilled by the authorities including closure of the hospital, arrest of the culprits and judicial inquiry into the case. He said they are still demanding a comprehensive inquiry so such negligence could be prevented.
On the occasion, he criticized the Sindh Health Care Commission for not playing its due role but added that due to the sacrifice of his daughter, now authorities are vigilant and willing to improve things by implementing rules and regulations.