Ban on pvt hospital after kins' video over death of 4 patients

The Indore district administration

imposed a temporary ban on a private hospital here from Friday, after four patients, including a suspected COVID-19 patient, reportedly died there within six hours as claimed by their relatives in a video that went viral on social media.

In the purported video, the relatives of the four patients admitted in the city's Gokuldas Hospital are seen crying and expressing their pain.

They alleged in the video that the hospital administration wants the facility to be vacated in order to sanitise it, which is why no attention was being paid towards the treatment of patients that ultimately resulted in the death of four patients in a short span.

 

After the video went viral, the administration immediately sent the officials of the health department to Gokuldas Hospital for investigation, where some suspected COVID-19 patients are also being treated.

Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Praveen Jadia said, "We came to know during the preliminary investigation that four patients died in the hospital within six hours on Thursday. Three of the deceased tested COVID-19 negative during the probe, while the report of another patient is awaited."

"We have seized the documents from the hospital and temporarily stopped its operations. The matter is being investigated in detail," he added.

The CMHO informed that 14 patients admitted to this hospital are being sent to other facilities.

Despite repeated attempts, the reaction of Gokuldas Hospital management over the allegations made by the patients could not be elicited.

In different videos that had surfaced on social media in the recent past, some private hospitals were accused of sending back patients suffering from various diseases without treatment, charging hefty fees and not discharging patients on time even after they tested COVID-19 negative.

Social worker and public health expert Amulya Nidhi said, "Despite the complaints, the state government has not been able to control these private hospitals till now. We demand that the government should immediately take over the management of all the private hospitals in the state in view of coronavirus outbreak."

Indore is among the worst affected districts by coronavirus outbreak in the country.

According to official information, the number of COVID-19 patients in the district has increased to 1,727. Of these, 86 people have died during treatment.