Police probe swap of baby boy with girl at Children’s Hospital

LAHORE:The Naseerabad police have registered a case regarding replacement of a baby boy with a girl child at Children’s Hospital, Lahore, as the hospital’s internal inquiry put entire responsibility on the child’s father without determining his claim about the sex of the child.

According to the FIR registered on 03.07.2024 by the Naseerabad police, Lahore, Muhammad Irfan, father of child patient from Gujranwala, complained that he had brought his sick four-day-old son at Children’s Hospital, which was allegedly replaced with a female child wearing the same clothes. After revelation about the sex of the child, Irfan came back to Children’s Hospital to return the body of the girl, and submitted an application to the Medical Director to provide justice and hand over his son to him.

Meanwhile, the hospital’s inquiry committee failed to determine the sex of the child before putting entire responsibility on the child’s family for Leaving Against Medical Advice (LAMA). It is interesting to note that the committee, in its findings, mentioned nameless child as “son of M Irfan” as claimed by the father as well. In another development, the hospital’s staff released a video statement of the child’s father, stating that he was taking his son on his own responsibility. “If anything happens to his son, I will be fully responsible for it and hospital administration shall bear no responsibility,” he says in the video statement. It is also interesting that child’s father clearly mentioned about the child patient as his son, instead of a daughter, in his video statement. Earlier, the inquiry committee, headed by Prof Dr Syed Javed lqbal, Professor of Paediatrics Medicine and also comprising Dr Mazhar Qadir, Assistant Professor of Neonatology, and Mst Amtul Inayat, Assistant Nursing Superintendent, submitted the inquiry report on 03.07.2024 to the Medical Director of University of Child Health Sciences/The Children's Hospital, Lahore.

While investigating the complaint filed by M Irfan s/o M Akram dated 02-07-2024, the committee interviewed all the doctors, staff nurses and paramedical staff, who remained involved in the management of Irfan’s son throughout stay in the Neonatal Unit of The hospital. The committee witnessed CCTV footages as well.

According to the committee, Irfan’s son was received in critically sick condition in Neonatal emergency of The Children's Hospital Lahore after referral from Bismillah Family Hospital, GT Road Gakhar at 12:26pm on 01-07-2024.

After initial stabilisation in NNE, patient was shifted to in NNU-II at 01:55pm along with grandmother and accompanied attendants. During stay in NNU Unit-II, patient's condition deteriorated despite treatment and the patient was shifted to HDU 1 of NNU 1 for ventilator support.

Patient's attendants were counseled about critical condition of the patient and its further management but they (including father) refused to continue the management of patient in Neonatal Unit of the Children's Hospital, Lahore.

They left Neonatal Unit of the Children's Hospital, Lahore Against Medical Advice after fulfilling SOPs and administrative legal requirements, including signing LAMA form at 07:00pm. The baby was handed over to father and accompanied attendants who left the institution at 08:30pm, according to CCTV footage.

Meanwhile, the hospital administration, in a statement on Thursday, rejected the father’s claim of replacing the male child patient with a female child as baseless. “The CCTV footages do not show any evidence of replacement of the male child with a female child, especially because the child’s family was involved in the management of the child throughout their stay at the hospital,” the statement added.