The health authorities are not satisfied with the reply submitted by Ad-din Medical College Hospital over the deaths of six newborns on May 27, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said today.

A meeting will be held during a break in parliament later today to decide the action to be taken against the hospital, the minister said, adding that the authorities would inform the media about the decision afterwards.

“The hospital has submitted its reply and we have reviewed it. However, instead of providing the necessary information, they included a lot of narratives and explanations that are not acceptable to us,” the minister told reporters at his secretariat office.

“They have written many unnecessary things. There are four or five pages of explanations, but no bullet-point responses to the specific questions. It is vague. Such replies are not acceptable,” he added.

"We are not satisfied. We have not stepped back from the matter. We are looking into what can be done and will take the necessary action," he added.

The hospital authority yesterday submitted its reply in response to show cause notice issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) over the deaths of six newborns allegedly caused by negligence.

The show-cause notice was issued seeking an explanation as to why the hospital’s licence should not be cancelled after six newborns, aged between one and four days, died between 5:00am and 9:00am on May 27. The incident triggered public outrage and led health authorities to shut down the post-operative room and form two investigation committees.

A DGHS probe committee found clear negligence by the hospital authorities, nurses and staff, as well as the absence of an on-duty physician, responsible for the deaths.

The health minister disclosed the findings on June 4, the same day the show-cause notice was issued. The preliminary deadline was 5:00pm on Sunday but the directorate extended the deadline by 48 hours following the request of the hospital authorities.