New Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh facility of hospital chain Max Healthcare resumed its operations on Wednesday, 10 days after its licence was cancelled for wrongly declaring a baby dead, The Hindu reported.
The hospital, in a release, said that operations were being resumed following a stay order issued by the “appropriate appellate authority” to whom it had appealed. “We are fully focussed on providing quality care to all our patients and honouring our commitment of ensuring free treatment to the economically weaker sections of the society,” the hospital said.
Following some reports that the “appropriate appellate authority” was Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, his office issued a statement that the matter of the Shalimar Bagh facility’s licence was before the Court of Financial Commissioner.
The hospital had filed an appeal on December 14 asking authorities to reconsider its decision “in the interest of public welfare”. The hospital said that because of the cancellation of its licence, “planned procedures such as 171 chemotherapies, 63 surgeries and 241 dialysis sessions had to be cancelled, rescheduled or transferred”.
The hospital had earlier said that the Delhi government’s ruling was harsh, and that its administration was not given an adequate opportunity to be heard.
The case
A baby and his twin sister who were prematurely born at the Shalimar Bagh hospital on November 30 were declared stillborn.
When the parents were on their way to a crematorium to perform the last rites, they found that the boy was still alive, and rushed him to another hospital. However, the baby died later at a private nursing home. The parents also alleged that Max Hospital had handed the babies to them in a plastic bag. A panel set up by the Delhi government found that the hospital did not conduct an electrocardiography test to check whether the babies were alive.
While announcing the government’s decision to cancel the licence on December 8, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that the hospital was a habitual offender and that its negligence was unacceptable. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also said that though the government did not want to interfere in the functioning of a private hospital, “open loot or criminal negligence by any hospital won’t be tolerated”.
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