Bhubaneswar: Asking the state government to act against those guilty of “serious lapse” that led to the death of several people in SUM Hospital blaze here, Union health minister JP Nadda Wednesday said the Centre will soon issue a fresh advisory to all states to ensure such tragedies are not repeated.
His remarks came on a day when another fire outbreak was reported in Kendrapara district headquarters hospital in the state. However, there was no casualty.
“We have to see that such incidents are not repeated. I will ask officials to revisit the guidelines (under Clinical Establishments Act) and make it more stringent. A fresh advisory will be given to all states so that such incidents do not take place anywhere,” Nadda said before winding up his one-day visit to the state.
He said, “There was serious lapse in the said hospital where people died. The state government should ensure the culprits responsible for the incident do not go scot-free.”
Terming the SUM tragedy as “very serious”, “worrisome” and “shocking”, Nadda said, “There was breach of safety measures. The incident would not have taken place at all, had safety measures been in place.”
Though fire safety is a matter related to home department, health department also has a responsibility to ensure safety of patients in hospitals, he said.
Nadda said he was told that the hospital did not have fire safety measures. “In spite of that, the hospital was running. It is a serious matter,” he said.
He also met health officials and assured support to the state government in providing treatment to the fire victims.
“I am not here for a blame game. Our priority is proper treatment to those injured in the fire,” he said. The state government has set up panels to probe the mishap and the reports are awaited, he added. Nadda also visited the injured at AIIMS, Capital Hospital, AMRI Hospital and KIMS.
Post News Network
