The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh administration to devise a statewide strategy to upgrade critical care and paediatric infrastructure across 45 state-run medical colleges.
Hearing a public interest litigation petition alongside related matters, a division bench of the court’s Lucknow bench, comprising Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla, mandated that the plan address broader healthcare gaps alongside paediatric care. While initial concerns focused on neonatal and paediatric intensive care units, the judges instructed authorities to widen the blueprint to cover general patient needs, specifically demanding an adequate supply of standard and specialised ventilators.
State Advised To Consult Top Medical Institutes
The bench asked the state government to consult premier medical institutions, including King George’s Medical University and the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, to formulate the improvement strategy.
In response to the proceedings, government counsel apprised the bench of an ongoing trial involving a digital referral mechanism known as e-Sarathi. Currently operational across five districts—Auraiya, Etawah, Firozabad, Kannauj, and Mainpuri—the digital portal routes patients to the Saifai medical college as the primary referral centre. The government indicated that broader deployment across the state would follow an operational assessment and subsequent adjustments based on the pilot’s outcomes.
Explanation Sought Over Infant Death In Sultanpur
The court also demanded an explanation from the state regarding financial compensation for the parents of an infant who died at the Government Autonomous Medical College in Sultanpur. The child reportedly passed away after failing to secure immediate oxygen, ventilator access, and specialist intervention.
Directing authorities to evaluate the question of restitution against the findings of an internal inquiry into the death, the bench set the next hearing for December 10.
