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Covid patient suicide case: Magisterial probe indicts Shimla’s DDU Hospital administration
Shimla additional district magistrate has submitted a 27-page report to deputy commissioner which has been further sent to the government for action.
A magisterial probe into a suicide committed by a Covid-19 patient admitted in Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital here, has found serious lapses in the Covid ward of the hospital.
Shimla additional district magistrate has submitted a 27-page report to deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap which has been sent to the government for action. The inquiry also pointed towards serious lapses in hospital management.
The woman, 54, from Chopal had tested positive for coronavirus on September 18 and was admitted to DDU Hospital. The incident had raised questions on the functioning of the hospital that how a patient in a ward where 20 to 25 other patients are also present could commit suicide in the presence of the hospital staff.
The family members of the woman said that she had been suffering from hypertension and was not given her routine doses at the hospital.
The inquiry report has indicted the hospital administration for lapses and stated that the patient was not administered medicines for hypertension for four days. It further revealed that the hospital staff did not attend to the Covid-19 patients and treat them well.
The hospital staff left the food for patients at the doors of the Covid ward and they had to carry their food themselves, it added. Elderly and critically-ill patients found it difficult to pick up their meals from the door. Several patients said that there was no intercom facility at the ward to communicate with hospital staff in case of emergencies. The report also pointed serious lapses on the part of senior doctors who did not attend to the patients.
The magistrate recorded statements of the hospital staff and the patients who were hospitalised at the time when the woman committed suicide. “The report has been forwarded to the government for consideration,” said DC Amit Kashyap.
Meanwhile, the government took few steps to improve the conditions at the hospital after the incident rocked the state. The government decided to install televisions at the hospital ward and the provided communication facility for patients. Besides, it has now become mandatory to supply newspapers to patients. The government has ordered to improve the quality of food provided to patients admitted in Indira Gandhi Medical College in Shimla and DDU Hospital.
