Aditya Kumar, an eight-year-old boy and a Class II student, suffered an injury to his hand while playing on April 1. His father attempted to get him into the hospital. The boy with a broken arm rushed to the hospital but was refused by two government hospitals in east Delhi to receive treatment. The hospitals are Dr. Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan and Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, respectively. The hospital stated that they had fewer staff members and medical supplies. Due to this, the family had to look for expensive private treatment options.
Aditya's father, Vinod Kumar, who is a security guard with a low monthly salary, rushed him to Dr. Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan's emergency department, but the hospital lacked basic supplies such as cotton. They were referred to another hospital called Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, which again was not able to provide treatment, stating the absence of an orthopaedic doctor beyond regular hours.
Vinod Kumar's urgent search for medical treatment led him to a private hospital, where he paid huge fees, an expense that could have been saved if government facilities were properly equipped to handle such patients. The tragedy exposes fundamental deficiencies in Delhi's public healthcare system, putting patients in need at risk of insufficient resources.
Authorities at the hospitals provided explanations for the failures. Dr. Ritesh Ranjan, in charge of the casualty department at Hedgewar Hospital, criticized the refusal of treatment based on a lack of cotton, while Dr. Seema Kapoor, director of Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, acknowledged staffing issues and requested additional assistance from the Delhi government.
This distressing occurrence underscores broader concerns expressed by professionals and activists about the quality of public healthcare in Delhi. Social jurist Ashok Agarwal criticized the child's suffering as a result of institutional inefficiency, reflecting feelings shared by many who have faced similar difficulties in obtaining timely and effective medical treatment.
The incident aligns with recent observations made by a Delhi High Court commission, which noted medical supply and staffing shortages in government hospitals. The committee's suggestions, such as keeping enough medication stocks and accelerating staff recruitment, highlight the critical need for systematic changes to solve the deficiencies in public healthcare infrastructure.
School principal Meenu Jain recalled prior instances in which Hedgewar Hospital denied away patients due to shortages of supplies, raising concerns about the community's dependence on government healthcare institutions to meet its requirements.
As the incident attracts attention, it provides an important indication of the discrepancies in healthcare access in Delhi, where underprivileged people frequently face the consequences of healthcare deficiencies.
(Input from various resources)
(Rehash/Susmita Bhandary/MSM)
