Mumbai: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Saturday alleged that a civic hospital here, which was treating the people injured in the Malad wall collapse incident, discharged them prematurely without giving proper medical treatment to them. A delegation of the party, led by its general secretary Shalini Thackeray, Saturday met the authorities of Shatabdi Hospital in suburban Kandivli, and asked them to readmit and treat the patients discharged "early". The hospital administration, however, dismissed the charge and said the patients were discharged after being given treatment for over 15 days.
During the intervening night of July 1 and 2, the wall of a reservoir collapsed in suburban Malad, killing 30 people and injuring 94 others. Most of the injured were admitted to Shatabdi Hospital. "Several victims of the Malad wall collapse incident had approached us with a complaint that they were discharged from the hospital early, even though they did not feel well and needed further medical care. One man had suffered severe injuries to his leg and was unable to walk, but nonetheless he was discharged. The condition of the injured is pathetic," Thackeray said. "Therefore, we handed over a letter to the dean of Shatabdi Hospital, and asked him to get those patients readmitted," she added.
"We also asked him to improve the quality of the hospital's medical care within 15 days so that it can serve the poor better. We also plan to take up the issue with the municipal commissioner," Thackeray said. When contacted, hospital dean Dr Pradeep Angre said they have received the letter from MNS, but denied that the patients were discharged prematurely. "Madam (Thackeray) wants us to treat all the patients properly and gave a letter in this regard. We told her that all the patients were given every possible treatment and were discharged as their recovery was good," he said. He also said that if any patient feels, he or she can again visit the hospital for treatment.
