Thane Covid hospital mix-up case: 2 doctors transferred, 4 nurses terminated
Two doctors from the Covid hospital set up at Global Impact Hub in Kalwa were transferred while four nurses were terminated from service after a mix-up between two patients on Thursday. The action was taken after a report of the inquiry committee stated that while there were no lapses in the treatment of both patients, the entire mix-up was the result of mistakes in the documentation, said Dr Vipin Sharma, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) commissioner.
The family of a patient from Kopri was given the body of a 72-year-old man on July 3, while their 67-year-old father was still alive. After performing the final rites for the man, on July 6 they were informed that he was still alive and in the ICU. He died on July 7.
TMC had set up a three-member enquiry committee to investigate the cause of the mix-up.
“As per the enquiry report, there was no negligence in the medical treatment given to the two patients. The mix-up was in the documentation process, for which we have taken proper action. Dr. Yogesh Sharma, the dean, and Dr Pramod Borgave, the doctor in charge of the ICU were transferred to their original posts at Chattrapati Shivaji Hospital, while the four nurses [involved in the case] were terminated from service,” said Sharma.
Deputy municipal commissioner Vishwanath Kelkar has been given full-time charge of the hospital for better communication with patients, to avoid such confusion in the future.
“The 67-year-old patient was already in the ICU, while the 72-year-old was shifted after his condition worsened. We regret the incident and would like to apologise to the families and ensure that such an incident is not repeated,” the TMC chief added.
The family has claimed that the action is not enough. The son of the 72-year-old man who died, said, “We could not see our father, nor give him a proper funeral. We were not even aware of what was happening. Merely transferring the doctor is not enough. We demand substantial action so that no other family has to go through this again.”
As per the report, when the 72-year-old patient was admitted on June 29, he was given an admit card with his name. Apart from the name on his admit card, all case papers in regards to his treatment are missing.
The report states that the nurses who got the patient admitted in the ward, registered him under the name of the 67-year-old patient and therefore, his case history was entered under the name of the 67-year-old.
However, there is no mention of the 72-year-old’s case history in the file of the other patient. The hospital has two case papers in the name of one patient.
Sharma informed that he will personally ensure that proper death certificates are issued to both the families of the deceased.
The issue was taken up by Niranjan Dawkhare, city president of BJP after the family of the 72-year-old patient claimed that he was untraceable early this week. Dawkhare and other BJP leaders had met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari who asked the chief minister for quick action in the case.
3-way registration of patients to avoid confusion
The civic commissioner informed that to avoid any confusion in the future, patients will be registered in three ways. “The Aadhaar card and Pan card details of the patients will be noted. A photo of the patient will be taken and attached to his case file. In case of death, relatives will be asked to identify the victim. Each patient will also have a wrist tag,” Sharma said.
(Inputs by Ankita Menon)