Khyber Teaching Hospital incident: 7 officers suspended over negligence in duty

PESHAWAR: Seven officers were suspended at  Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) over the negligence in duty after six coronavirus patients died due to the unavailability of oxygen at the hospital.

Earlier on Sunday, five patients in the isolation ward and one in the intensive care unit (ICU) lost their lives when the hospital’s oxygen supply was disrupted.

Taking notice of the incident, the hospital administration had initiated an inquiry into the shortage of oxygen as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government sought a report within 48 hours. 

The management suspended seven including the hospital director, facility, and supply chain managers. Furthermore, the management said it would investigate the standards of the supply system, hire trained and qualified staff for the oxygen plant, establish a backup system on an emergency basis, and organise a rescue squad. 

However, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said the government would hold an independent investigation if the hospital fails to prepare the report.

Meanwhile, the report's findings issued the same day unfolded that the incident took place due to a “system failure”.  

"There is a chronic deficient oxygen filling of the tank went, which unnoticed, unsupervised and unchecked,” the investigation report shared by KP Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra noted.

“There is no back up of oxygen storage/ supply system in the hospital as recommended by the Health Technical Memorandum (HTM),” the report stated.

The report also revealed that the supply chain department failed to provide the required number of flow metres for cylinders and highlighted that the hospital has no emergency rescue squad either.

It added that the management had failed to report an absentee staff of the oxygen plant, and stressed that the plant staff lacked training and skills while the biomedical engineer also failed to perform his duties.