Days after a decomposed body of a tuberculosis patient with COVID-19 infection was recovered from a toilet of the Sewri TB Hospital, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday has suspended the medical superintendent from his post. Moreover, they have decided to conduct the departmental enquiry against the doctors, para-medical staff, nurses and ward boys of the hospital in the wake of the incident.
This comes after a 27-year-old patient identified as Suryabhan Yadav was found dead in a toilet at the hospital after 14 days since he went ‘missing’ from the coronavirus ward. After receiving complaints of foul smell from the toilet on October 25, administration opened the door only to find his decomposed body. Following this, the civic body had formed a high-powered seven-member committee to investigate the matter.
Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner of BMC, said the committee which has submitted the report on Monday in which the negligence of the hospital authorities has been found following which action has been taken.
“We have decided to suspend Dr Lalit Anande, medical superintendent of the hospital, though he hasn’t held responsible considering he holds the main position. We have to take a stern action against him to stop repetition of such incidents in the future,” he said.
A departmental inquiry has been called upon nearly a dozen hospital staff including nurses and ward boys for their negligence. “In addition to that, we have also summoned around 7-8 medical staff from the hospital including doctors who were responsible for the COVID-19 wards,” said Kakani.
As per the information collected from Sewri TB Hospital, the patient was admitted to the hospital on September 30 after being diagnosed with COVID-19. During his admission, he didn’t give his address. It is suspected that on October 4, he collapsed and died in the bathroom of the isolation ward as he was very weak.
To address such issues, in July, BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had instructed to keep a bedpan for every patient so that they don’t have to go to the bathroom at night. It was also instructed to monitor patients through video surveillance. But the Sewri TB Hospital has been found to be violating all the rules which are put in place to ensure the safety of TB patients.
