Ludhiana, November 24
The Punjab Government has suspended a gynaecologist and transferred the Senior Medical Officer of the Ludhiana Civil Hospital following deaths of five newborns at the Mother and Child Hospital on Sunday.

Another newborn died in the hospital today due to intrauterine foetal demise. The infant was too weak and could not be saved, said Director, Family Welfare, Jatinder Kaur. Health Minister Surjeet Kumar Jayani said the gynaecologist, Dr Alka Mittal, who was on duty at the Mother and Child Hospital yesterday, has been suspended and Senior Medical Officer Dr RK Karkara has been transferred. Three of the five newborns died a natural death while the doctor was responsible for the death of two babies, said Jatinder Kaur, who is a member of the probe team.

“One of the newborns was referred to Christian Medical College and Hospital yesterday but the family refused due to which the infant died. In another case, the foetal heart rate of the newborn was weak and had the doctor arrived on time, the baby could have been saved,” said Dr Jatinder.

The hospital is short-staffed and lacks infrastructure. The hospital does not have an intensive care unit and a newborn care unit.

Jayani said: “Dr Alka Mittal was chargesheeted earlier this month as she was absent from duty without informing the SMO. This is for the second time that she did not report on duty. The SMO has also been negligent in imparting his duties.”

The Health Minister also announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the families in case the hospital authorities were found negligent. A detailed inquiry report will be submitted by Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal within a week.

Dr Alka Mittal said: “Midwives and nurses are trained to conduct deliveries and gynaecologists are only available on a call. I did a Caesarean section in one of the cases to save the mother. The child was already dead.”

SMO Dr RK Karkara said he had written to the Director (Health) in advance about the requirements of the 100-bedded hospitals. “As we did not get the required staff, I had to adjust the staff from the Civil Hospital. Doctors, paediatricians and nurses were shifted from the Civil Hospital’s gynaecology department to the Mother and Child Care Hospital. No fresh appointments were done and we had to do with the available staff and infrastructure.”