AIIMS, RML, Lok Nayak served notice for delay in reporting Covid deaths

Weeks after warning all the hospitals in the national capital of strict action on delay in reporting coronavirus fatalities, the Delhi government has served a show cause notice to AIIMS, Lok Nayak, RML and Safdarjung Hospitals to explain the reasons for delay in reporting the deaths. The Delhi Health Department on Sunday said memorandums have also been issued to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital to explain the reasons for delay in reporting death cases.

“Show-cause notices have been issued to AIIMS Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital, RML Hospital, and Safdarjung Hospital to explain the reasons for delay in reporting death cases in violation of the directions issued by the Health Department of Delhi as well as by DDMA under the Disaster Management Act,” the Health Department said.

Also, it said, an advisory has been issued to Lok Nayak Hospital to “be careful in future and follow the orders and guidelines issued by the department in true letter and spirit” so that there is no anomaly in the deaths being reported by the government. While Lok Nayak Hospital is a Delhi government hospital, RML Hospital, AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital are under the Central government.

On 10 May, accepting that public and private hospitals in the city were not reporting the Covid-19 deaths in a timely and regular manner, the Delhi government, after much criticism from the opposition, warned all the hospitals of strict action on delay in reporting of coronavirus deaths and ask the healthcare facilities to submit the death report, even nil, by 5 pm daily. The order warned that non-compliance will be viewed seriously and strict action as per the relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 as well as other relevant laws will be taken against the defaulters without any further notice.