Kerala Health Minister Veena George has promised action in the incident at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital where an inordinate delay in performing emergency surgery to save the fingers of a three-year-old child who had severe crush injuries has yet again raised questions about systemic delays in MCH and the quality of care offered to the public.
The three-year-old who sustained the crush injuries to her fingers on Friday noon and required emergency surgery had to wait for over 36 hours at the Department of Orthopaedics at MCH before the surgery was finally performed on Saturday night, according to reports.
The surgery finally happened after the child’s mother sought the help of the Corporation councillor at Nedumcaud .
Because of the impending surgery, which was inordinately delayed, the child had to go without any food for over 36 hours, not to mention the fact that the delayed surgery may have affected the child recovering the use of her fingers.
Ms. George said the incident would be enquired into and action taken against those responsible for the delay in surgery. The Emergency wing of the MCH is well-equipped, with a proper triaging system to prioritise patients and there was no need for the surgery to have been delayed, she said.
