Delhi Hospital Fire: 12 NICU Beds Operational Despite Licence Allowing 5, Says Chargesheet Against Owners

There were operational lapses, including violations related to licence granted for NICU beds, in the hospital where seven newborns were killed in a fire in May. Delhi Police filed a chargesheet against the owners.

The heart-wrenching incident took place on May 25 at a child hospital in Vivek Vihar area. The police, which filed an 800-page chargesheet, had arrested two people who were running the hospital then – nursing home owner Dr Naveen Khichi and doctor-on-duty and NICU incharge Dr Akash, who has a degree in bachelor of ayurvedic medicine and surgery (BAMS).

Here are details of the investigation by Delhi Police:

• Documents received from the Directorate of Health Services shows that the alleged hospital was granted licence to run NICU for five beds in 2021 for three years. The renewal application was under submission with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
• The accused was running the NICU for 12 beds in violation of the licence for five beds.
• There is no document available in the application file to show the safety measures installed and devised in case of a fire
• According to building plans submitted to the DGHS for licence, there are two rooms on the first floor measuring 201.73 sq ft and 145.25 sq ft in the building. The building has no required space for running a NICU with 12 beds
• Instead of a registered medical officer, only BAMS doctors were deployed to take care of infants in the NICU
• ⁠No qualified nurses were employed in the hospital
• The accused had permission for five cylinders of category B type and 15 cylinders of category D type.⁠ But, during the time of the incident, 31 cylinders were in the building that eventually caused the fire to spread more.
• Police found that the owner allowed male staff members to cook on the rooftop. The structural design of the building was also not safe, they said.
• Police also examined two witnesses who saw how the fire spread and made the PCR call. Dr Akash was also spotted making a phone call, but did not make a PCR call, they said. This caused a delay of about half an hour in reporting the fire, which hampered rescue operations, they added.
• During the inspection that later took place, Delhi Police found that there was no fire safety equipment or device installed in the hospital. The autopsy report shows that the infants died of burns.