Hospital vandalised over ‘negligence’

Kolkata: An angry mob vandalised a private hospital off EM Bypass following the death of an aged patient due to alleged medical negligence. Radharani Maity (83), the deceased, was a resident of Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas. She developed chest pain on Sunday night.

The octogenarian was admitted to Peerless Hospital at Panchasayar. On Monday morning, she however died.

Alleging medical negligence in her death her family members got involved in a verbal duel with the doctors and hospital staff. They also threatened them.

The altercation turned ugly when the family members of the deceased stormed the emergency department and went on rampage to vent their anger at around 11 am. Several medical equipments and furniture sets were damaged. Around 20 patients were admitted in the emergency department then. The sudden attack left them in panic.

A police team rushed to the hospital and tackled the situation. Clinical director (emergency medicine) Dr Indranil Dasgupta said, “The patient’s condition was critical when she was brought here. She was detected with sepsis. She was treated after her family was consulted.”

He added, “She needed to be admitted to intensive care unit. But there was no bed available here although she underwent treatment here earlier. Her family wanted her to be treated in the emergency department however. The patient’s condition worsened at night. In the morning she could not be saved.”

Maity’s daughter however claimed that this was the first time when her mothe was brought to the private hospital for treatment. Three members of the patient’s family were detained by the police after scanning the CCTV footages of the hospital. They were arrested later for their role in the vandalism.

The private hospital has been the target of vandalism in the past also. In April of 2010 it witnessed large scale vandalism by an frenzied mob after a boy, who was critically injured in a road accident, was allegedly refused admission.