‘Doctors’ negligence’: Ombudsman orders inquiry into death at Gujranwala DHQ

Complainant says doctors did not see his brother in hospital for 3 days.

LAHORE:

Ombudsman Javed Mahmood has ordered an inquiry into a newspaper hawker’s death, allegedly due to the negligence of doctors at Gujranwala District Headquarters Hospital. The ombudsman has directed the hospital’s medical superintendent and Gujranwala’s DCO and EDO (Health) to submit the inquiry report by September 27.

Muhammad Zaheer, a newspaper hawker and resident of Nomania Road in Gujranwala, complained to the ombudsman that his brother Muhammad Azeem, also a newspaper hawker, had been admitted to the DHQ hospital for three days without being attended to by a single doctor.

The local newspaper hawkers’ association staged a protest following Azeem’s death. The medical superintendent set up a committee to investigate the death. The duty doctors concerned did not testify before the committee, which found them culpable for Azeem’s death, the complainant said.

He alleged that the MS had not taken action on the inquiry report. He said that he had applied to DCO, the Gujranwala regional police officer and the health secretary, but to no avail.

The ombudsman referred the complaint to Health Adviser Rana Amanullah, who has initiated an inquiry and directed the DCO, EDO (Health) and DHQ hospital MS to submit a report in this regard by September 27.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2013.