The Telangana High Court on Wednesday instructed the Principal Secretary of Medical, Health and Family Welfare to file a counter-affidavit explaining budget allotted to extend medical facilities to government hospitals at District, taluq and village (primary health centres) levels across the State.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T. Vinod Kumar passed this direction while hearing suo motu a PIL petition based on a news story by a Telugu daily over the death of a woman and her newborn baby in Nagarkurnool district after the woman had travelled nearly 124 km from one government hospital to another for better medical assistance in December 2022. Observing that the Principal Secretary had not filed counter-affidavit despite earlier HC directions, the bench instructed the top official to furnish all details in the affidavit to be filed within four weeks.
The bench sought to know from the government information about the medical facilities available to patients at district, taluq and village-level government hospitals. It also wanted the officer to explain availability of doctors at all such hospitals in the State. The CJ, reading out report of Achampet hospital official, said the officer noted that Ch. Swarna, 24, a pregnant woman of Yellampally village in Amrabad mandal, required ventilator support but the hospital did not have that facility.
“The issue with regard to the medical facilities available to people at district, taluq and village level required consideration,” the CJ noted. The pregnant woman was first taken in an ambulance to PHC at Padara on December 26, 2022, after she went into labour. From there, she was shifted to government hospital at Amrabad. As the medical staff there said they did not have required medical equipment to treat her, the pregnant woman was taken to Achampet hospital.
Eventually, the woman was taken to Mahabubnagar government hospital after travelling 124 km where the doctors attended on her. She gave birth to a child through normal delivery but both the mother and the newborn died after developing complications.
