Pregnant woman administered IV fluid under tree at Madhya Pradesh hospital

A duty nurse said the hospital does not have sufficient infrastructure and staff members.

A 30-year-old pregnant woman was administered intravenous fluid under a tree at a government civil hospital in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh as there were no beds available because of a spike in the cases of “seasonal disease”.

A resident of Beora, Pooja Tapala was brought to a government civil hospital after she developed some complications on Wednesday. She was then placed on a bed under a tree outside as there were no beds available inside. (HT)

A resident of Beora, a town 150km from the state capital Bhopal, Pooja Tapala was brought to the hospital after she developed some complications on Wednesday.

“The hospital administration asked me to wait for some time, saying there was no bed available in the hospital. When my condition deteriorated, a nurse placed a bed under a tree and asked me to lie on it. There was no mattress on the bed. With support of a tree branch, the nurse administered IV fluid to me,” Tapala told media persons.

She said another woman, who was admitted after her, was also given the same line of treatment.

A duty nurse told the Hindustan Times, on the condition of anonymity as she was not authorised to speak to the media, the hospital does not have sufficient infrastructure and staff members.

“All the beds are occupied because of seasonal disease affecting people in the area. Many a time, we have to adjust two patients on one bed,” she said.

However, the medical officer in charge of the hospital Dr SS Gupta refused to comment on the availability of beds and said the hospital was in a good shape.

“I am trying to find out who was on duty and allowed this (placing the bed under a tree),” said Dr Gupta.

Gauri Singh, Madhya Pradesh’s principal secretary for health, said a senior doctor was being sent from Bhopal to check the condition of the hospital and inquire into the matter.

“In the hospital, the construction of a new ward is almost completed and soon it will be open for patients,” she added.

The incident has put India’s underfunded and poorly managed public health system under the spotlight. Successive governments have failed to address the acute shortage of doctors and infrastructure.

A similar incident took place in Morena district where a woman was administered IV fluid under a tree.