1.6K blood bags wasted at Borivli civic hosp in 5 yrs

While patients and their kin have to run around for supply of blood during medical emergencies, since 2012 the civic-run Bhagwati Hospital in Borivli had to destroy over 1,600 blood bags which were either contaminated or had crossed their expiration date.

In a written reply to a question by MLA Abu Asim Azmi of the Samajwadi Party and others on Tuesday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that between 2012 and 2017, the Bhagwati Hospital saw collection of 12,057 bags of blood. "It is true that 1,602 blood bags were destroyed. A total of 822 blood bags were found to have been contaminated and 780 bags were found to have crossed their expiry date," Fadnavis said.

"The BMC has been given instructions to ensure that henceforth, the collected bags of blood do not cross their expiry date," he said.

Fadnavis said that the BMC was taking measures to ensure proper and optimum use of blood collected and stored in blood banks. This included demand-based supply of surplus blood to other government, private and civic-run hospitals, and seeking routine reports from officers about blood collection and use.