Gujarat Congress MLA GyasuddinShaikh on Tuesday alleged that negligence andimproper treatment of COVID-19 patients in Ahmedabad civil hospital is leading to high number of deaths, and sought the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission in the matter.In a letter sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Shaikh claimed a similar scenario was there in other government-run hospitals also where senior doctors are "shying away from treating COVID-19 patients and handing over the responsibility to junior doctors and para medical staff".Till Monday, Ahmedabad reported 555 COVID-19 deaths in various government-run hospitals, including civil hospital."The high mortality rate of coronavirus patients in Ahmedabad is due to improper treatment and negligence of doctors and authorities," the opposition MLA said."It has come to my notice that doctors are not aware about the death of a patient even after three hours. Relatives are also not informed about the treatment or progress in health of the patients," Shaikh said in a video message.Because of such practices, very high number of coronavirus patients have died in the civil hospital, he said."Thus, to safeguard the basic human rights of patients, I have written to NHRC today and sought its intervention. I have also demanded an investigation into the overall functioning of the civil hospital," he said.Shaikh, who represents Dariyapur seat of Ahmedabad, in his letter alleged that relatives of some patients were informed about victims' deaths after almost a week.The legislator also claimed that patients having other ailments are not given proper attention.Relatives are forced to take the bodies in commercial vehicles because of non-availability of ambulances at the civil hospital, he alleged.Out of the total 11,746 cases of coronavirus reported in Gujarat so far, 8,683 are from Ahmedabad district alone.
