The Sadar hospital in Munger. Picture by Meera Prasad

Munger civil surgeon Dr Jawahar Prasad Singh has issued showcause notices to two technicians and the Sadar hospital’s deputy superintendent for alleged faulty pathological reports.

Last Friday, district programme officer Mohammad Nasim conducted a surprise inspection at the hospital and discovered, among other anomalies, that the pathological laboratory did not have the chemicals to conduct tests. He submitted his report on Saturday, following which Dr Singh slapped the showcause notices on the technicians — Dilip Dubey and Anil Kumar Singh — on Monday.

He told The Telegraph on Tuesday: “The report states there were no chemicals at the pathological laboratory to conduct necessary tests. Even blood slides of the patients who were purportedly checked were not found at the time of the inspection. These are very serious issues and so, I decided to slap the showcause notices on the technicians.”

The technicians have been asked to reply in a week’s time.

A source in the government hospital said the health society’s district programme manager conducted a surprise inspection of the pathological laboratory. “Pathological tests on the blood slides, on the day of inspection, could not be produced by the technicians. He also could not find the requisite chemicals for other pathological examinations. Suspecting foul play on the part of the technicians, the district programme manager submitted a report to the civil surgeon and the district magistrate,” added the source.

A faulty report can harm patients as it may lead to wrong treatment that, in some cases, can even prove fatal.

Sadar hospital doctor Ajoy Kumar expressed concern about repercussions of a wrong pathological report. “A wrong blood group report may lead to transfusion of a different group to a patient. It may prove fatal too,” he said.

The patients are even more worried.

“It worries me that the pathological reports are not being produced properly. My husband, Brahmdeo Kumar, is admitted here and a wrong pathological report is bound to affect his treatment,” said Munni Devi of Munger.

The hospital administration had deputed Dr Ajay Kumar Singh to supervise the functioning of the pathological lab to ensure reports were issued only after proper examination of samples. The doctor never took charge though.

So, civil surgeon Singh has decided to issue a showcause notice on the Sadar hospital’s deputy superintendent Rakesh Kumar Sinha for failure to ensure supervision of the pathological laboratory.

He added: “Dr Singh had been deputed earlier to supervise the functioning of the lab but he didn’t take up the responsibility. The deputy superintendent should have brought this to my notice. I will seek an explanation from him.”