HIV patient examined in cycle cart: Hospital staff in Ghaziabad in soup

Taking cognisance, the office of Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak, who also holds the health portfolio, had ordered an inquiry into the serious lapse in providing care to the person. A panel of three senior doctors looked into the matter and gave its recommendation on Thursday, after finding that the employees in question were negligent in their duty

A committee of officials from the MMG District Hospital in Ghaziabad on Thursday recommended the suspension of a contractual doctor posted with the antiretroviral therapy (ART) centre and the termination of services of a ward helper for allegedly failing to provide a stretcher or a wheelchair to an HIV-positive woman patient, who was brought to the hospital in a cycle cart by her family on Wednesday. No effort was also made to secure her an ambulance to take her to a higher facility in Meerut, officials in the know of the matter said.

A video grab of the incident that took place on Wednesday.

The officials said the woman patient, who hails from a poor family in Sahibabad, was suffering from tuberculosis besides being HIV-positive. The video of a man pulling the cycle cart on which the ailing woman lay was widely shared on social media on Wednesday.

Taking cognisance, the office of Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak, who also holds the health portfolio, had ordered an inquiry into the serious lapse in providing care to the person. A panel of three senior doctors looked into the matter and gave its recommendation on Thursday, after finding that the employees in question were negligent in their duty.

“The committee has recommended the suspension of the contractual doctor, Sheel Verma, and the sacking of ward helper, Mayank Kumar. It is alleged that they did not provide stretcher/wheelchair to the patient before referring her to a higher facility in Meerut,” said Manoj Chaturvedi, chief medical superintendent, MMG District Hospital.

“However, the family then contacted me to arrange an ambulance for them and I did so. The patient was taken in the ambulance to the Meerut Medical College. The doctor who examined the patient should have made efforts to secure her an ambulance,” Chaturvedi said.

Verma, who examined the patient at the ART centre, said the department had closed at 2.30pm when the patient was brought in.

“The ART centre has no facility to examine or admit AIDS/HIV patients and they are generally referred to the higher facility in Meerut. The family brought the patient in the cycle cart and the department was already shut for the day. Since I was still there, I came out and examined her on the cart. She was immediately referred to the higher centre,” said Verma.