Outcry over 'terrible and cruel' health care for children in Khabarovsk

WARNING: graphic images.

A petition over care in the intensive care facility of the Perinatal Centre of Khabarovsk is claiming 'child abuse', and calling for heads to roll among senior medics over the 'neglect'.

The complaints allege tiny babies are suffering 'pressure ulcers and sores', lie in urine 'for hours' because they are not cleaned and changed, receive intravenous nourishment with re-used unsterilised equipment. 'Sometimes they are washed in the same basin without cleaning it after the previous child,' says the petition evidently started by concerned parents. 

'Child care is often carried out without appropriate hygiene standards, the staff do not even wash their hands, and the childrencontracted infections such as Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as a result of which the babies are treated with the strongest antibiotics. 'No staff are present in the intensive care room for 30-to-40 minutes.'

Suffering babies are neglected without nursing staff to attend them at the 'terrible and cruel' facility, it is claimed in a campaign which has spread like wildfire on the web. It is alleged by campaigners that staff came to work 'smelling of alcohol', said a report by local news outlet AmurMedia. Doctors rudely told concerned parents to 'shut up', it was claimed. 

'Parents were illegally restricted in time while communicating with their babies and were not allowed to carry out proper child care by themselves,' stated the worrying report. 'Repeated appeals to the head of the centre Valery Stupak, as well as to the government of the Khabarovsk region, did not help.'

While some measures were taken to improve the situation on the orders of the authorities 'rudeness and alarmingly poor care continued to prevail'. 'Representatives of the territory administration appeared in the wards and served as guards, creating a 'Gestapo' atmosphere for the children.'

Organiser Tatiana Polosatkina said: 'We want everyone to know how the children - in our case, our babies - are treated in the intensive care unit of the Perinatal Centre of the city of Khabarovsk. 

'Help us to punish the government for the lack of action and to change attitudes towards children.... Believe me, any child can get into such a situation now and, God forbid, it can be a child of your loved ones. 

'As perfectly normal, decent parents could not even imagine that our favourite long-awaited child will 'live' in the emergency room of the Perinatal Centre and get such 'help'. More than once we have addressed this problem to the chief doctor Valery Stupak, but he and his deputies just laughed in our faces ... 

'These people should not be responsible for the children's health facilities.'

The petition concludes:  'Do not let the cruel and inhumane treatment of newborn children in the Perinatal Centre of Khabarovsk happen again. The chief doctor should be fired or severely punished.'

The petition has so far gathered more than 350 signatures. It will be handed to health service watchdog Roszdravnadzor, the Health Ministry - and President Vladimir Putin. 

AmurMedia contacted Dr Stupak who said: 'I am not familiar with this petition, and need to study the situation, to learn what has happened and what are they talking about. Please send your direct inquiry and we will respond within the framework of the existing law.'