1,100 deaths reported in ATH in four months

Management yet to do clinical audit,
form death review committee

ABBOTTABAD: About 1,100 deaths have been recorded in different wards of the Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) during the last four months whereas newly appointed senior managers have been reluctant to introduce clinical audit and have yet to constitute death review committee.

The MTI reforms Act 2015 calls for regular clinical audit in the hospitals for the evaluation and improvement of quality of care provided to the patients.According to record obtained by this scribe from more than 20 wards of the ATH, 10 to 12 deaths have been daily reported in the 1200-bed hospital.

Despite the high mortality rate, the hospital administration seems least bothered to take appropriate steps for clinical audit and other patient care initiatives. Instead, it has spent more than Rs3.5 million on a newly constructed additional route, which was linked to Mansehra road.

The hospital data reveals that 282 deaths occurred in the ATH during July 2016, 304 in August and 268 in September. About 246 deaths have been confirmed so far since beginning of October.

Ironically, causes of all the deaths are unknown as no death review committee has been constituted in the hospital till now. However, a number of people have accused the hospital authorities of not fixing responsibility for these deaths.

The father of 16-year old FSc student Tayyaba, who died the other day in the hospital, said that her stomach was washed after delay of almost four hours leading to her death.He said his daughter was brought to the casualty department around 1pm and was later moved shifted to the casualty ward and then to another ward for four long hours.

A midwife having a record of explanations, warnings and even terminations was once caught red-handed in the gynae operation theatre for replacing children, but no action was taken against her. An inquiry committee has been constituted but its verdict would not be made public as per policy of the hospital authorities.

When contacted, the ATH public relations officer issued a statement saying that efforts were being made within available resources to improve patient care and reduce death ratio in the hospital.

He stated that previously only one neonatal ICU facility with 25 beds was available in the hospital and death ratio of neonates was more than 10. He added that to upgrade the facility the management created another neonatal ICU with 30 beds and now the death ratio has come down to less than five.

The statement also said the Department of Neurosurgery was upgraded and its bed strength was increased from 25 to 50 and also an ICU with latest equipment was set up there. However, the hospital management avoided to comment on the lack of clinical audit.

The public relations officer stated that as far as change of the baby in labour room was concerned, the culprits would be dealt with severely according to the rules as per recommendations of the inquiry committee.

The hospital administration has been restricted by the Board of Governors (BoG) not to share the information with the citizens, particularly the media.

BoG Chairman Javed Panni has already challenged the action of Right to Information (RTI) Commission over the request of a senior journalist in the Peshawar High Court seeking information about illegal appointments and mismanagement in the institution.