Two days after two patients under treatment at the Mansa civil hospital were spotted abandoned in different parts of the town, including one of them later found dead on roadside, health minister Dr Balbir Singh on Friday directed to constitute a state-level committee for a detailed investigation into the matter.
This panel will replace the four-member investigation committee instituted by Mansa civil surgeon Dr Ranjit Singh Rai on Thursday for greater transparency in the case that evoked a strong reaction on social media.
Mansa deputy commissioner Paramvir Singh said on Friday that taking a serious note of the issue, the state authorities are now directly monitoring the matter.
“A report is expected soon,” said the DC.
The case invited sharp criticism as demand was raised that the district-level committee cannot fix accountability amidst the allegations that a few doctors at the civil hospital allegedly paid an ambulance driver to dump two ailing persons away from the hospital.
The matter first came to light on social media after the two were found about 4-km away from the civil hospital on Wednesday.
Civil surgeon Dr Ranjit Singh Rai said the deceased Karan was from Mansa and aged around 32. He had a history of chest-related infection while the other patient was around 42 and he was under treatment for fractured limbs.
{{/usCountry}}Civil surgeon Dr Ranjit Singh Rai said the deceased Karan was from Mansa and aged around 32. He had a history of chest-related infection while the other patient was around 42 and he was under treatment for fractured limbs.
{{/usCountry}}Rai said one patient was admitted again and is being treated by an orthopaedic but he is mentally unstable and unable to give any firm clue about himself.
“I took notice of the social media feeds, and a four-member panel was constituted to find the truth. I cannot comment further as now the state-level committee will probe the case. The committee is expected to visit Mansa tomorrow or on Sunday,” added Rai.
Mansa senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nanak Singh said on Friday that a patient was found dead on Wednesday, and no one owned the body to date.
“Initial information says the deceased was the same person who was being treated at the civil hospital. As per the protocol, the body has been kept for 72 hours at the mortuary for identification and nobody has still claimed the body. An autopsy will be performed after 72 hours to ascertain the cause of death and other details,” said the SSP.
Officials privy to the matter said both patients had been admitted in the general ward at the district hospital since October for separate ailments and there was still no confirmation if any of them was diagnosed with HIV or AIDS infection.
“None of them had any family members around them for care at the hospital. There are claims that the doctors had tagged both patients as LAMA (leaving against medical advice), a situation when patients leave the hospital before a treating physician advises so. As per rules, police are not alerted in such matters and medical records need to be audited minutely to link the incidents,” said the official.
Members of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Ambulance Service and Welfare Society, who operate at the civil hospital, said their volunteers were taking care of the patients with no caregivers.
Ambulance driver and volunteer Nirbhai Singh said he and other volunteers had been taking care of both patients since the beginning of this month. Nirbhai claimed on Friday that he raised the issue with the hospital staff after both patients were suddenly not seen on their beds.
Few claim that both were infected with tuberculosis, but they were kept in the general ward and were not in the isolation zone, he said.
“A thorough probe is needed,” he added.
“Both were very sick and were not in a position to step out of the hospital. Few doctors were irked over patients with no caregivers at the hospital and some staff members wanted to get rid of such patients. An ambulance driver associated with another organisation has openly claimed that a few doctors at the civil hospital had provided him with a person on Wednesday to drop both patients on the roadside,” he added.