E-Paper
Migrant worker dies at Covid counter in UP hospital battling ‘systemic failure’
Lucknow’s BRD Medical College’s principal in charge Dr Pawan Pradhan said an inquiry has been ordered into alleged negligence apart from a notice served to the hospital staff for not providing a stretcher to the patient.
A 35-year old migrant worker from Gorakhpur district, Rambadan Sahani died at the Covid patient registration counter at Lucknow’s BRD Medical College on Monday, triggering outrage at alleged apathy of the hospital staff.
Narrating his unending ordeal leading to Rambadan’s death, his brother Vishnu Sahani said since no ambulance was available, he brought Rambadan to the medical college on a motorcycle. Once there, the medical college could not provide even a stretcher to carry him to the ward, he alleged.
The video of Vishnu carrying Rambadan on his shoulder in the medical college went viral on social media.
“I carried my ailing brother on shoulder from the gate of the medical college to the Covid patient registration counter. When I told the medical officers about the critical condition of my brother, they asked me to wait in the holding area of the hospital for admission. I told them to arrange oxygen as my brother was facing difficulty in breathing, but again, I was told to wait. My brother collapsed near the registration counter and breathed his last,” Vishnu said, summing up struggles of commoners, seeking access to the state healthcare system during the present Covid crisis.
He said even his brother’s death didn’t change the hospital’s “insensitive” attitude. They took two hours to wrap the body according to Covid protocols after Vishnu and other attendants at the hospital protested against the administration. “We had to give ₹2,000 to the ambulance owners to transport the body home,” Vishnu said.
BRD Medical College’s principal in charge Dr Pawan Pradhan said an inquiry has been ordered into alleged negligence apart from a notice served to the hospital staff for not providing a stretcher to the patient. “The employees have been told to be sensitive toward the patients brought to the hospital for admission,” he said.
Rambadan Sahni worked as a daily wage labourer in Hyderabad. He returned home on May 6 and was suffering from fever as well as breathing problems.
Under pressure from rising numbers of Covid-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic since late March, hospitals in Uttar Pradesh have struggled with oxygen and medicine supplies and ICU beds among other logistical issues. The state government however claims that the situation was improving with several Covid level facilities being fitted with oxygenated beds and launch of a door to door survey in rural areas to identify Covid cases early. However, opposition parties have accused the state government of refusing to acknowledge the magnitude of the crisis.
