Mangaluru : No medical check-up camps under the Vajpayee Aarogyashree healthcare scheme will be done for the next three months by the city’s Omega Hospital, whose doctors and other staff have been accused of negligence leading to the death of a 70-year-old woman and a nine-year- old girl from Arlapadavu, near Puttur, Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader has said.

Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Khader said his department decided to keep under suspension for three months the empanelment of Omega Hospital until the department completes inquiry into allegations made against the hospital.

Residents of Arlapadavu, near Puttur, staged a demonstration at the Panaje Primary Health Centre (PHC) against the hospital, accusing it of negligence leading to death of Poovakka (70) on March 23 and Aiyashat Haseena (9) on March 18.

“There are some confusions. There are also allegations against the hospital. We are looking into it,” Mr. Khader said.

He also said that they were not happy with the report submitted by the Deputy Director of Suvarna Aarogya Suraksha Trust, which is implementing the scheme.

He and the Director of the Trust would hear out the people in Aralapadavu. They would also consider findings of a separate committee ordered by Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim.

Mr. Khader said the State had been acclaimed nationally for the way it was implementing the Vajpayee Aarogyashree scheme.

Norms had been set in place to identify beneficiaries and take their consent for treatment.

Operation procedures followed by the empanelled hospitals on patients were done only after seeking approval of a panel of experts in Bengaluru.

“We will examine whether there is any failure by the private hospital,” he said. If any fault was found it would help the department in improving the system, he added.

Mr. Khader on Saturday visited the Panaje PHC in Arlapadavu and met the family members of deceased.

He also met patients who were admitted in a private hospital in Puttur after developing problems following the surgical procedures conducted in Omega Hospital.

He was accompanied by Director of Suvarna Aarogyara Suraksha Trust.