Ballia heatwave: Beds full at district hospital, DM claims patients have reduced

The only government hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district is full. The hospital has been in focus ever since it temperatures have begun rising between June 15 and 20. As many as 68 people admitted to the Ballia district hospital have reportedly died in five days.

The Ballia district magistrate inspected the patient wards and other arrangements at the district hospital on Tuesday, a day after 11 more patient deaths were reported at the facility.

During the inspection on Tuesday, District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said, "The number of air conditioners, coolers and fans in the wards have increased in the last few days. Arrangements have also been made for additional staff." Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of the hospital SK Yadav said the number of new patients has decreased drastically in the last 24 hours.

The Chief Medical Superintendent SK Yadav said several of those who died were senior citizens with comorbidities and they reached the hospital when their condition deteriorated because of the heat.

Health officials refused to clarify if any new patient death was recorded at the facility but said the number of new patients coming to the hospital has reduced.

The Ballia district hospital has come under the scanner after 68 patients died at the facility in five days till Monday. The deaths came amid heatwave conditions in the region.

On Monday, a two-member committee comprising Director (Communicable Diseases) Dr AK Singh and Director (Medical Care) KN Tiwari was sent by the state government to Ballia to look into the reasons behind the recent deaths.

The committee visited several areas of the district and spoke to family members of patients who succumbed at the district hospital.

The union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday chaired a meeting in the national capital to review the preparedness of public health services for heatwaves across the country.

The minister said, “A team of experts from the Union Health Ministry, ICMR, IMD, and NDMA will visit the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to support them in public health response measures to address heat-related illnesses.”

Former Ballia DM Dr Diwakar Singh was removed on Saturday as chief medical superintendent of the district hospital by the state government for “giving a careless statement on deaths caused by heatwave without having proper information”.

The new DM Kumar said, "In the past, the chief medical superintendent of the district hospital gave an unverified statement and was removed from his post by the government. All kinds of medicines like ORS and other facilities have been made available at all the hospitals in the district so that people don’t face any issues,” the DM added.

With PTI inputs