A senior officer, who is also a published author, narrated her harrowing experience on social media when she went to the Hiranandani Hospital in Powai to get an ECG test done around 11am on Saturday.
She said on Twitter that a man from the housekeeping staff walked into the room where she was alone and lying on the bed, “not clothed”. The woman said that the machine was still attached to her body, and the room’s curtains were drawn, but the man “still came inside while I was in that compromising position”.
She went on to say that the man “ran off” when she screamed at him and that the nurse did not conduct the ECG test in a private room. The bureaucrat said she was taken to the casualty ward, where she was made to lie down and a curtain was drawn around her. The nurse had assured her that no one would enter the room, she said. “I feel exposed, embarrassed and insulted. The hospital should have ensured that as a patient I would be safe. The housekeeping staffer used the excuse that he needed to take out the machine,” the woman posted.
She said that she wanted to register a complaint but the nurse “minimised my experience and refused to give me the name of the staffer who by then had begun to apologise”.
Hiranandani Hospital in Powai admitted that the incident took place on its premises, adding, “This is an error which has happened unknowingly and it is deeply regretted. Also, the patient and her husband have been profusely apologised to by the staff and manager on duty.”
The hospital issued a statement, saying: “In the emergency, we have six beds in ward style which are fully covered with curtains. This patient was taken to a corner bed for added privacy. As the ECG was taken, the nurse went to get a file folder. Meanwhile, another patient required an ECG done, so the housekeeping, unaware that there is a patient inside, entered the cubicle to retrieve the machine. He immediately rushed out and informed the nurse.”
The hospital statement further said, “The duty manager (as it was a public holiday) was informed and came to the emergency department. She investigated the matter and realized the error had been made unknowingly. However, the manager and the housekeeping staff and the nurse profusely apologised for a mistake committed unknowingly.”
The hospital further said that as a process, “all OPD ECG are done in a separate room. In the emergency, all beds are fully covered with curtains which were drawn all around for complete privacy. As the ECG machine was required for another patient in casualty, the housekeeping staff was asked to get it and he unknowingly entered and immediately rushed out without any hesitation. The emergency in the hospital and the nursing station is just next to the beds.”
The woman, however, said that the hospital had no proper mechanism to file an official complaint. She said, “The entire Hiranandani website is a smokescreen. There is no option for complaints. No names are mentioned on who is in charge or who is upper management. No contact details,” she posted.
