Kolkata: Five more babies have died since
yesterday, taking the crib death toll today to 23 in the
state-run Malda Sadar Hospital in the past one week.
Hospital sources said the five babies died between 8 pm
yesterday and 12 noon.
They said a decision was taken to increase the number of
beds in the newborn care unit to 22 from 15, besides raising
the number of beds in the neo-natal care unit and the number
of child specialists.
Hospital principal Debasish Bhattacharya said that
most of the crib deaths were cases referred from areas outside
Malda with bronchopneumonia, septicaemia and premature
low-birth weight.
He said that the hospital was overburdened with patients
two and a half times than the total number of beds.
"We have already informed the state health department
about the ordeal that patients, doctors, paramedical staff
and the employees are facing in the hospital which needs to be
seriously looked into," he said.
According to Bhattacharya, patients from neighbouring
North and South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Jharkhand besides
Bangladesh availed of the hospital's services.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 23, 2012, 18:41