Doctors accused of negligence by patient’s relatives: high drama unfolds at hospital
Drama unfolded at the Christian Medical College and Hospital(CMCH) in Ludhiana when a patient’s relatives protested for more than two hours, alleging negligence. The incident occurred on Monday.
42 year old Hazara Singh was a resident of the Bonkar Village, Mattewara. He was admitted to CMCH on 7th June after a heart attack he suffered while spraying in the fields. Singh was moved to the general ward on 14th June but was put on ventilator on the 17th of the same month. The family members weren’t allowed to meet him when he was on ventilator. However, when his son Rashim Singh requested the hospital authorities to let him meet his father, he was allowed to. Soon after though, the patient was declared dead.
It was on Monday that Singh’s relatives arrived at the hospital to receive the body. Tension popped up when the authorities refused to hand over the body until they cleared the bill first. This led to the relatives holding a protest for two hours which caused a traffic jam outside the hospital. Following the protest, the authorities decided to give the relatives a concession. After paying a sum of Rs.50,000 the relatives received the body.
Aside from claiming negligence, the relatives also claimed that Singh actually died a couple of days ago but the doctors refused them permission to meet him-so that more amount could be added to the final bill. They said that the bill of Rs 1.5 Lakh was inflated.
William Bhatti who is the medical superintendent of CMCH has denied all the allegations. He said that every time a patient died, doctors were being blamed. He added that if a patient received all facilities, then he had to clear the bill. The doctors, he said, are working day and night for treating the patients.
Image credits: Hindustan Times