Shocking maternity deaths under Daloo’s leadership

Shocking deaths of two pregnant women one after the other during last fortnight in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district though speaks volumes about the collapse of tertiary healthcare system in Jammu & Kashmir but Financial Commission Health and Medical Education Attal Daloo heading the department for the second time as administrative secretary of the department in his about three decade long bureaucratic career is yet to break his silence over the causes and consequences of the tragic maternity deaths. Suspension of docs’ and nurses amid rising COVID-19 scare won’t satisfy the families of the deceased women but a fast track probe and punishment to the guilty would only satisfy the families of the deceased women. Since the woman who died at Anantnag maternity hospital was referred from the Seer Hamadan hospital after developing complications, the health department headed by Daloo will have to explain the availability and utilization of health care equipments at the Seer Hamdan Hospital in view of the rising public concerns over the referral of the patient to district maternity hospital Anantnag. Unless and until the government does not address the basic issues like availability and utilization of health care equipment at tertiary health care centres, the incidents of maternity deaths could re-occur also at other tertiary care health centres in districts other than Anantnag both in Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division. So focus has to more on the availability and utilization of health care equipments than over the issues of overstaffing and understaffing in tertiary health care centres. Focus on availability and utlisation of health equipments is in fact the prerequisite for creating a culture of patient safety in the tertiary health care centres in Jammu & Kashmir keeping in view the ultimate motive of quality healthcare delivery.
A systemic approach has to be followed to give doctors and health workers an atmosphere of communication openness, cooperation and exchange of ideas for the purposes of improving the level of patient safety culture, but can such a systemic approach be followed when the doctors and health workers are grippe with fear of police action for talking to media over health issues in Jammu & Kashmir? This is an issue of grave concern and people the reserve the right to seek explanation from Daloo as administrative secretary of health and medical education department on this count.
Atal Daloo as second time administrative secretary of the health and medical education may be himself aware of the fact that raising the overall level of patient safety culture in hospitals means setting standards for working hours, level of staffing, teamwork, communication openness, and feedback on lapses, but unfortunately the health and medical education department does not focus on hospital safety culture under Daloo’s leadership. A systemic approach has to be followed to give doctors and health workers an atmosphere of communication openness, cooperation and exchange of ideas for the purposes of improving the level of patient safety culture, but can such a systemic approach be followed when the doctors and health workers are grippe with fear of police action for talking to media over health issues in Jammu & Kashmir? This is an issue of grave concern and people the reserve the right to seek explanation from Daloo as administrative secretary of health and medical education department on this count.