Patients dying at PMCH to get death certificate same day

Come October 20, and the state’s oldest medical college will issue death certificate immediately with the patient’s body to relatives, except in medico-legal cases, or those involving post-mortem examination, said its medical superintendent Dr IS Thakur on Wednesday.

Relatives of patients who die during treatment at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) will not need to wait for up to six months or grease the palms of staff or middlemen to obtain death certificate of their kin any more, following a direction by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Bihar’s deputy chief minister, who also holds the health portfolio.

The Patna Medical College Hospital. (HT Photo)

Come October 20, and the state’s oldest medical college will issue death certificate immediately with the patient’s body to relatives, except in medico-legal cases, or those involving post-mortem examination, said its medical superintendent Dr IS Thakur on Wednesday.

“Issuing death certificate used to take up to six months earlier. There were even allegations that middlemen, in connivance with some of our staff, used to demand illegal gratification from the relatives of the deceased to issue death certificate,” said Dr Thakur.

“I issued orders on Monday and all heads of departments have been told to ensure that death certificate is issued expeditiously to relatives of the deceased patient along with the body. Our deputy chief minister, during his surprise inspection of the hospital on September 6, had issued instructions that relatives of patients who die be given death certificate from the hospital the same day,” said Dr Thakur.

The PMCH, said Dr Thakur, accounted for an average 15 deaths of patients every day.

“Our patient mortality rate could have been better if patients came to us early for treatment, and not referred from private health centres at the end stage. Most patients come to our hospital when they are either terminally ill, or have run out of finances after incurring a hefty amount of money on treatment at private centres,” Dr Thakur said.

The superintendent said he had also issued a similar instruction to his officials around a fortnight back to promptly issue birth certificates of children born at the hospital.