A little over one week after a fire that killed 10 newborns at a hospital in Bhandara district, Maharashtra, the city’s fire brigade is in the middle of audits of all public and private hospitals and nursing homes for compliance with safety regulations The audits are to go on for a month, after which notices for compliance of fire safety rules will
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A little over one week after a fire that killed 10 newborns at a hospital in Bhandara district, Maharashtra, the city’s fire brigade is in the middle of audits of all public and private hospitals and nursing homes for compliance with safety regulations The audits are to go on for a month, after which notices for compliance of fire safety rules will be sent to the hospitals.
That seems logical on the face of it, though it is reactive rather than proactive. It should not take a tragedy of mega proportions to trigger such action. Audits and surprise checks for fire safety preparedness should be conducted regularly, notwithstanding accidents or incidents.
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That being said, it is the latter part of a report in this paper that is of particular concern. It said that the fire brigade here had conducted audits of medical institutions following a fire incident in a hospital in Gujarat last year in August. There is a lack of clarity on those audit reports and subsequent compliance reports from hospitals. This needs to be avoided and the new audits should get the intended results.
Medical facilities that have complied should be acknowledged and directed to maintain their status. The errant ones must be fined and told to comply immediately to avoid further penalties and, in extreme cases, where there is no compliance despite repeated warnings, punitive action must be taken or the facilities must be shut down.
It is time we demand results from all enquiries, committees and investigations that start after adverse incidents. Otherwise, we will quite rightly have a sceptical citizenry, which will scoff at so-called fact-finding committees or remedial measures. Ensure that they bring results and, most importantly, there should be transparency which leads to accountability.
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