A hospital superintendent and a duty doctor at a community health centre (CHC) in Achampet of Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district were on Wednesday, January 26, suspended for allegedly denying admission to a pregnant woman who had tested positive for the coronavirus. After being denied admission at CHC Achampet, the woman delivered her baby on the road outside the hospital on Tuesday, health officials said.

The pregnant woman came to the CHC and after tests were conducted, she tested positive for coronavirus following which the doctors did not admit her and told her to go to some other health centre, the officials said. According to Sakshi, the woman belonged to the Chenchu tribe. After the delivery, the woman was finally brought inside and the newborn and her mother are doing fine, they said. 

Terming the incident as an act of gross negligence and violation of rules by the staff concerned, the Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad Commissioner Dr K Ramesh Reddy placed the Superintendent of the hospital and the duty doctor at CHC Achampet under suspension with immediate effect.

Clear instructions were given to all government hospitals not to deny any admission to pregnant women even if they test positive for COVID-19, the official said.

The two doctors were surrendered to the Director of Public Health with a request to initiate disciplinary action on both of them, he said. The Superintendent of District Hospital Nagarkurnool was directed to conduct a detailed enquiry and submit a report to the Commissioner of TVVP (which comes under Health Medical and Family Welfare Department).

Earlier in December 2020, after a 55-year-old woman suffering from Tuberculosis (TB) died at a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus stand, her family alleged that she had been denied treatment at the Bhadrachalam Government Hospital in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. Her family alleged that her death was a result of medical negligence,