The AMRI inferno in Kolkata, which claimed 93 lives, has prompted hospital authorities, both private and state-run, across the country to sit up and plan strategies to handle such situations. While many of the big hospital chains claimed all was well with their safety infrastructure, some others admitted there was much room for improvement.
“If this (AMRI hospital fire) can’t be a wake-up call for hospitals around the country, what will?” asked a healthcare industry representative.
“The AMRI incident is a 100 per cent wake-up call for every private, corporate and government hospital. In every tragedy, there’s a lesson to learn. In this case, the lesson is to become more concerned about safety norms, especially fire safety measures,” said B G Menon, managing director, ACME Consulting, a healthcare consultancy. He added the fire safety department needed more power to take quick action against the violating parties.
“On AMRI, the department had issued a notice for expiry of fire safety certification three months back and no action could be taken,” he noted.
Other ideas are being thrown around, too, like mandatory registration with the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH, a constituent of the Quality Council of India), foolproof fire audit systems, mock drills in hospitals, and rating of hospitals.
Only seven hospitals in Mumbai have NABH accreditation. In Chennai, of around 100 hospitals, very few are NABH-accredited. Across the country, only around 120 are so accredited, according to Menon. However, things may improve in the next couple of years, as 600 to 700 applications are in the pipeline.
On the ground
Rupak Barua, chief operating officer of Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI), a CK Birla Group hospital, said both the government and private players should pay greater attention to infrastructure, emphasising on patient safety. “Government should play a supporting role,” he said.
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According to Rang Emei, vice-president, healthcare, Technopak Advisors, “If you look at a lot of private hospitals in metro cities like Mumbai, the fire safety norms are not fully complied with, though they may have fire safety mechanisms in some way or the other.” A lot of them could be caught off-guard in times of crisis, he added.
Akhil K Sangal, chief executive officer of Indian Confederation for Healthcare Accreditation, was critical of the safety infrastructure in hospitals. “I don’t think Indian hospitals are in a position to face any AMRI-like incident,” he said. Although procedural safety equipment was in place at AMRI, for instance, fire alarms were turned off, he noted. A senior official from the Mumbai fire brigade said hospitals lacked in punctuality in calling them for timely checks on fire safety applications installed in their premises.
| HOSPITAL AUDIT National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers or NABH conducts audits on patient safety, which include disaster management audits. So far, 120 hospitals in the country have sought this accreditation | |||||
| NABH-accredited hospitals in major cities | |||||
| Delhi & NCR | 33 | Bangalore | 12 | Mumbai | 7 |
| Hyderabad | 9 | Chennai | 5 | Kolkata | 2; AMRI in abeyance |
‘Under control’
However, all corporate groups spoken to maintained the hospitals they were running were completely safe. For instance, P V A Mohandas, founder and managing director of MIOT Hospitals, Chennai, said, “Hospitals are the safest place in the country, because most comply with statutory norms.” For his own hospital, he said, a centrally monitored fire detection system was in place and so were multiple sprinklers. The staff was trained on fire safety.
Preetha Reddy, managing director of Apollo Hospitals, said their hospital leadership was constantly taking measures to address safety issue, through infrastructure, training and awareness. Apollo has several accreditations, including that of NABH, Reddy said. “We have a standard operating procedure to handle any such accidents,’’ she added. .
Rupak Barua of Kolkata’s CMRI said, “We are prepared for any disaster of this sort. In all the nine floors, we have water connectivity, sprinkler systems and facilities for smoke and fire detection. More, we have charted a proper evacuation plan and all the safety rules and regulations are followed.”
Praful B Pawar, CEO of Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai, said it was prepared to deal with any adverse situation. "We are trying to learn lessons from the AMRI fire incident and have declared this Fire Safety Week,” he told this newspaper. “An active training programme, wherein hundreds of employees would be trained in fire safety, is being conducted at the hospital and the evacuation plans are being redefined.”
In Columbia Asia Hospital, Bangalore, all possible precautions are taken, be it sprinklers, fire tanks or whatever else it takes, said Tufan Ghosh, managing director and CEO. However, adding: "If the AMRI disaster doesn't make hospitals relook at fire safety plans, then one is in for a disaster."
Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, vice-chairman and group CEO, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Bangalore), said, "Quality and safety is paramount.” Saying they had accreditation from national and international bodies, he said people did not follow norms in India “and that's the main problem. Some things have to be enforced in this country or it is very often not followed”.
Inputs from Gireesh Babu in Chennai, Shine Jacob in Kolkata, Sanjay Jog & M Saraswathy in Mumbai, Praveen Bose in Bangalore and Joe C Mathew in New Delhi