Delhi Ventilator Shortage

NEW DELHI: Following reports about shortage of ventilators in Delhi government-run hospitals, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal pulled up Health Minister Satyendar Jain who in turn sought to shift the blame onto Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, accusing the Health Secretary appointed by him of not reaching the hospital to deal with a case of medical negligence citing unavailability of car.

A peeved Kejriwal reacted on Twitter following media reports claiming Ambu-bags (manual hand-held devices which support breathing) being used to resuscitate patients due to an "acute shortage" of ventilators at hospitals.

"Satinder, this is unacceptable (sic)," he tweeted.

Later, Jain wrote on Twitter that, "There is a death in LNH due to negligence. I requested Sec health to reach Hospital with me. He refused to come saying unavailability of car".

According to sources in the Delhi government's Health Department, Jain had received information about a patient, having died yesterday in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital as he was allegedly unable to get ventilator support, and was going to the hospital to check the ground reality.

He had also called the Health Secretary to come with him but the secretary refused saying his car was not available, they said.

Jain blamed the LG saying that he has appointed the "most incompetent" IAS officer as the health secretary.

"Shameful. LG has appointed the most incompetent, useless n insensitive IAS officer as health secy," Jain tweeted.

However, the secretary later reached the spot, sources said.

The medical superintendent of LNJP Hospital, Dr J C Passey said the patient was a 35-year-old man hailing from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and had undergone an operation on December 6 after he suffered a brain hemorrhage.

The patient, according to Passey, was doing well after the operation but his condition deteriorated yesterday and he was put on ambu-bags due to unavailability of ventilators and died in the afternoon.