Patient shares bed with corpse at Ludhiana Civil Hospital

Tribune News Service

Manav Mander

Ludhiana, April 15

The local Civil Hospital is once again in news for wrong reasons. A patient admitted to the emergency ward was forced to share bed with a body for more than half an hour.

Sorry state of affairs

• April 9, 8.30 pm Unidentified patient with broken thigh bone admitted to the Ludhiana Civil Hospital, not attended to till April 11
• April 12 A note on his file reads, “Patient not on bed”; this, despite his broken thigh bone
• April 13 A doctor puts a note on file, but doesn’t mention his/her name
• April 14 Patient referred to another hospital, but again name of doctor not mentioned
• April 15, 11.40 am Patient dies, but body remains on bed he shared with another patient
• 12.17 pm The body shifted to mortuary after lying next to the patient for more than half an hour

An unidentified patient died at 11.40 am and his body kept lying on the bed he was sharing with another patient for 37 minutes. The body was shifted to the mortuary at 12.17 pm.

Taking serious note of the incident, Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney marked an inquiry into the matter. Dr Jasbir Singh Aulakh, Civil Surgeon, who conducted the inquiry, submitted a report to the DC and the Director, Health.

The Civil Surgeon indicted Senior Medical Officer Dr Mandeep Sidhu and Emergency Medical Officer Dr Manju Nahar, saying the incident took place due to administrative lapse on part of the SMO.

“If two patients were lying on the same bed due to a shortage of beds, at least the other patient should have been shifted after one died and saved him the mental agony,” Dr Aulakh said.

“Earlier, it was said that the patient was lying with the corpse for two hours. After verifying the reports, it came to light that the corpse was lying in the ward for 37 minutes. The delay took place due to administrative formalities in shifting the body,” he said.

The incident has once again brought to light the poor state of affairs at the hospital. The unidentified patient with broken thigh bone was admitted to the hospital on April 9 at 8:30 pm, but he was not attended to by any doctor till April 11. On April 12, a note on his file read, “Patient not on the bed”. How can a person with a broken thigh get out of bed? On April 13, a doctor put a note on the file, but didn’t mention his/her name. On April 14, the patient was referred to another hospital, but again the name of doctor was not mentioned.

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