‘Death committees’: Pindi hospitals handing clean chits to ‘negligent’ staff

In 80 cases of patients dying at BBH in the city since January, no doctor or nurse has been found negligent

RAWALPINDI: Deaths during treatment at the hospital, either through malpractice or negligence or even fate, are common. However, what is uncommon is that in Rawalpindi, doctors are almost always given a clean chit by an inquiry board.

Owing to the suspected negligence of doctors and staff at the Benazir Bhutto hospital (BBH) in Rawalpindi, as many as 80 cases of patients dying at the facility during treatment have come to light over the past four months. However, most of these deaths were termed as medical while some of the cases remain under observation.

Among the deaths, relatives of most patients who passed away within 36 hours of being admitted did not file a complaint about the suspected negligence of doctors.

However, in some instances, the family of patients staged protests inside the hospital and even lodged written complaints.

The death committee, which is supposed to review and conduct a medical audit of cases where patients admitted to the hospital as per the standard operating procedure but pass away within 36 hours, has apparently abandoned this practice in recent years, reducing them to just documentary actions. At the BBH, the death committee comprises the Head of Peads Department Professor Rai Asghar and includes as members Head Surgery Professor Naeem Zia, Gynecology Department’s Professor Shagufta Sial, Nursing Department Superintendent and Social Welfare Officer.

In death cases, the nursing superintendent sums up all the charges against the doctors and presents it before the committee. However, at the BBH, the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), the death committees merely prepare reports and then place them in files which are then locked up in a cupboard.

In the incident that the aggrieved family stages vehement protests against the alleged negligence of doctor and staff, forcing the hospital administration and the committee to convene, the cases are usually thrown out after a few hearings.

One of the biggest reasons is that the aggrieved heirs express a lack of interest in the case owing to procedural delays. This allows hospital staff to put the case to bed by terming the death as being medical.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2018.