PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced Rs. one million to the families of six people who died in the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) incident due to the non-availability of oxygen cylinders.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Adviser Kamran Bangash and Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra told a joint press conference that the lack of oxygen was the cause of the incident. Unfortunately, there was not an adequate supply of oxygen, they maintained.
Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that justice should be given to the families of the deceased. The hospital’s oxygen system needs to be further modernized. The system of the 18th century cannot work in the 21st century, he maintained.
He said that a detailed report on the incident would come within five days. “The health sector needs to be reformed. We have to satisfy the people with the best practices in the health sector,” he added.
The provincial minister said that the health system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could not be called ideal but something had definitely changed.
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It may be recalled that as a result of the report on non-availability of oxygen in Khyber Teaching Hospital, seven members of staff including the director have been suspended.
The suspended persons include a faculty member, a medical engineer, a supply manager, a biomedical engineer, and a duty employed oxygen.
The board of Governors in its preliminary report has found three people of Oxygen Plant guilty of negligence. According to the report, the untrained staff was on duty and the biomedical engineer failed to perform his duties.
