Sisodia orders inquiry into refusal to admit dengue patient

The inquiry will cover the responsibility of hospitals, particularly those concerned with admissions and treatment

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday, ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged refusal by some private hospitals in the national capital to admit a seven-year-old boy suffering from dengue.

The inquiry would go into the refusal by five private hospitals to admit Avinash Rout, whose death was followed by the tragic suicide of his parents, a statement from the Delhi government said.

Sisodia instructed the divisional commissioner of Delhi to depute the local sub-divisional magistrate to conduct the probe and submit a report to the Delhi government within seven days, the statement added.

The director general of health services has already issued show cause notices to five private hospitals of South Delhi - Moolchand Khairati Ram Hospital, Max Superspeciality Hospital in Saket, Akash Arogya Mandir in Malviya Nagar, Saket City Hospital and Irene Hospital in Kalkaji - under the provisions of the Delhi Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1953, it added.

The statement said Sisodia directed it to be ascertained in the probe that when there were specific instructions issued to all hospitals of Delhi - whether government or private - that patients suffering from dengue should not be denied admission in hospitals citing lack of beds, then why and how the treatment was denied to the boy.

The inquiry should cover the responsibility of hospitals, particularly those concerned with admissions and treatment, it added.

The deputy chief minister also directed that the probe should recommend specific remedial actions to prevent recurrence of such tragic incidents.