Collector seeks report on Covid-positive woman’s death; files FIR against ambulance service provider for overcharging

Pune: A day after Hindustan Times reported on a Covid positive 62-year-old woman succumbing to the contagion due to non-availability of a vacant hospital bed, district

Pune: A day after Hindustan Times reported on a Covid positive 62-year-old woman succumbing to the contagion due to non-availability of a vacant hospital bed, district collector Naval Kishore Ram visited Gujar-Nimbalkarwadi, the area where she resided, and ordered an inquiry to be completed within seven days.

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In a separate case, the district administration, on the instructions of Ram, lodged a first information report (FIR) against a private ambulance service operator for overcharging a 56-year-old patient when he wanted to move from Bibwewadi to Karvenagar, after he tested positive for Covid-19.

The operator has been booked under relevant sections of Pandemic Act and Motor Vehicle Act.

The amblulance driver charged Rs 8,000 for a seven-km run from Bibwewadi to Karvenagar. The state government- approved charges for the said distance is Rs 900 and the patient was charged nine times the approved amount.

Also, the driver demanded an additional Rs 1,500 for the PPE masks provided to the accompanying doctor and nurse in the ambulance

In the Gujar-Nimbalkarwadi case, Ram has also asked the health authorities to ensure ambulances visit each village where there are patients, once a day.

The woman was initially asked by the administration to stay at her home in Gujar-Nimbalkarwadi, on the outskirts of Pune. However, on Monday, her condition worsened as she due to the non-availability of a ventilator in the hospital situated in her neighbourhood, said her kin.

“We have issued a show-cause notice to the concerned staff of the health department and sought their reply in seven days. This is a lesson for the administration and the health department must follow all the standard operating procedures (SOPs) essential for the management of a Covid patient’s health and wellbeing. We will ensure that the best treatment is given to the patients and such incidents don’t repeat in the future,” said Ram.

Ram said, “She was diagnosed on June 29 and her report came on June 30. She died on July 3. We have found that private lab Thyrocare did not share the report with the government and this has come after an on-the-spot inquiry. Their report is not coming to the authorities and we are banning them in Haveli taluka for this strange working style,”

According to Ram a bed was available for the woman at Aundh hospital, but the family insisted on another hospital.

“I have taken a serious view of the incident and conducted a meeting with the villagers. I have instructed the tehsildar to visit all villages and take feedback from villagers. Home isolation was not there in the beginning for these villages. We are starting a practice where a government doctor will go to the village in an ambulance and check the details of each patient and take immediate steps for facilitating medical services depending on the patient condition. In this way we will keep co complete control on the situation unfolding in the villages,” he said