The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Wednesday took a suo motu case on the basis of reports that appeared in some sections of the media that 11 of the ventilators in SAT Hospital were not in a working condition.
However, the Superintendent of Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, in a statement here, denied the media reports and stated that adequate number of ventilators were available for use at SAT Hospital and that the ventilators which were said to be not in a working condition were in fact machines which were either condemned or set aside for repairs.
SHRC has ordered that an official not below the rank of a Deputy Director of Medical Education inquire into the state of affairs and to check specifically whether the ventilators in paediatric surgery and neonatology were in a working condition.
Panel directive
The commission ordered that steps be taken to make the ventilators functional or to take necessary steps to acquire new ones. The inquiry report must be submitted to the SHRC within a month.
