GMCH Suspends Multiple Doctors, Nurses After NICU Tragedy

The administration at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) has suspended several medical staff on Monday following the tragic mishap in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) that left three newborns seriously injured and one dead last month.

Based on the findings of the hospital’s investigation committee, Dr. Anupama Deka, HoD. Pedoatrics and Associate Professor Dr. Dipankar Hazarika, also from the Pediatrics department, have been suspended indefinitely.

During this period, both the doctors shall be headquartered in Guwahati and are barred from carrying out private practice or any other employment, business profession or vocation until further orders.

Additionally, Nurse In-Charge Gomati Devi, staff nurse Chandana Nath, and ICU technician Ishan Jyoti Talukdar have also been suspended.

Meanwhile, based on the complaints filed by the families of the affected infants, GMCH has also suspended Dr. Hrishikesh Thakuria and Dr. Puja for a period of six months.

The incident occurred in the No. 3 ward of GMCH’s labour and delivery department, where four newborns were reportedly being accommodated on a single ICU bed. During this time, three infants sustained serious injuries after reportedly falling from their beds, including head trauma, while one baby died.

Families allege that the hospital routinely overcrowds the NICU, keeping four to five babies in a single ICU box. Parents also claim that staff behaviour has been inappropriate in the past and that proper security measures are lacking.

As the case blew up, an on-duty nurse was earlier taken into custody after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stepped in.

Also Read: GMCH Probe After Infant Death: Father Demands Answers and Justice