Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh on Wednesday announced the suspension of three senior doctors and dismissal of a house surgeon for “gross negligence” after three patients died because of the disruption in oxygen supply at Jalandhar Civil Hospital early this week.House Surgeon Shaminder Singh has been dismissed for gross dereliction of duty, he said. The three suspended doctors — Medical Superintendent Raj Kumar, senior medical officer Surjit Singh and consultant anesthetist Sonakshi (on-duty doctor) — may face removal or dismissal from service, the minister told reporters.“All three doctors have been placed under suspension. Detailed inquiry is being conducted and they are likely to be dismissed from the service and lose all benefits of the service,” said the minister, while stating that exemplary punishment will be given for this “unpardonable” administrative failure.The minister said the preliminary investigation has revealed that the incident occurred due to administrative failure, despite the availability of adequate infrastructure, manpower and multiple oxygen supply sources at the facility.The hospital had a functional pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen plant with dual compressors, a manifold system with 18-20 cylinders, and a liquid medical oxygen plant ensuring four backup sources, he said. However, the “irresponsible handling” by the duty staff resulted in the fatal drop in oxygen pressure.“The negligence was purely administrative. The hospital has 49 internal medical officers, 46 trainee doctors, 14 house surgeons, and 17 medical officers — enough to ensure one doctor per bed. Yet, lives were lost due to sheer dereliction of duty,” the minister said.On July 27, three patients at Jalandhar Civil Hospital died and the hospital authorities acknowledged a brief dip in oxygen supply but maintained that backup oxygen cylinders were promptly activated. The patients included Archana, a 15-year-old admitted for a snake bite, Avtar Lal, a 32-year-old drug overdose patient, and 30-year-old Raju, a tuberculosis patient — all of whom were on ventilators at the time.The minister said that the three lives could have been saved had oxygen been supplied on time. “Despite having these systems and adequate staff in place, the incident took place due to serious management,” Dr Balbir said. He added that the government had already provided the hospital with a hotline power connection and funds for power backup, so such an incident is completely unacceptable.Story continues below this adAccording to hospital officials, House Surgeon Dr Shaminder Singh had allegedly left the hospital during the incident without informing anyone. However, Dr Raj Kumar claimed that they received no written order regarding the dismissal. He said, “We are ready to cooperate with the government investigation. If summoned, we will participate in the inquiry.”The hospital administration said that no post-mortem was conducted and the incident was not treated as a police case. They said that the families also did not request it.While they said that it was yet to be ascertained if the three patients died due to oxygen shortage, they added that the hospital’s oxygen plant was repaired on Monday, and a technical investigation is ongoing.Meanwhile, Congress MLA Pargat Singh, launched an attack on the AAP government and demanded the resignation of Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh.Story continues below this adCalling the suspension of doctors a “PR exercise”, he said that the real accountability must begin at the top. “An ICU oxygen failure is not an accident, it’s institutional collapse. The government cannot wash its hands of this by making the doctors scapegoats. A statewide technical audit of ICU oxygen systems must be carried out and FIRs against those responsible for negligence must be registered. Top health officials and the hospital administrators must be made accountable. There is an urgent need for structural reforms in the state’s healthcare system,” he said, adding that he will raise the issue in the next Assembly session.Balbir Singh, on his part, also issued strict directives to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply and power backup in all critical care units, including ICUs, Operation Theatres (OTs), and emergency wards across all government health facilities in the state.“All government hospitals should have 24×7 oxygen availability, functional UPS systems with 30 minutes back-up, and fully operational generator sets for critical equipment. There will be no excuse for such lapses,” he added.