Mumbai: The death of 18 patients in 24 hours at a municipal corporation hospital in Thane, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s turf, has raised questions about the infrastructure at the medical facility.
The 18 patients died between Saturday and Sunday at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (CSM) Hospital at Kalwa. The exact cause of the deaths is not yet known and is being investigated.
While the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has vowed an “impartial probe”, the state government has set up an independent probe committee led by the health services commissioner.
The committee will also include the Thane collector, TMC civic chief, director of health services, and a civil surgeon, besides a doctor from state-run JJ hospital in Mumbai.
“Action will be taken based on this report,” Shinde told reporters in Satara Sunday.
According to information provided by the hospital administration, the CM said, the patients were in very critical condition and some had been referred there by private hospitals. They were admitted on different days with different ailments, the CM added.
The 18 patients who died included 10 women and eight men, according to the administration. Their relatives have alleged negligence on the part of the hospital administration, adding that it didn’t have enough doctors.
Thane Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said Monday a committee will be constituted for an impartial investigation into whether the patients received “optimal treatment”.
“Some of the patients who died were already receiving treatment for various ailments including chronic kidney disease, pneumonia, kerosene poisoning, road accident and other reasons. I have briefed the CM on these deaths,” Bangar said, adding that 12 of the deceased were above the age of 50, he added.
The hospital authorities have admitted that they have been under a severe load on account of the fact that the main Civil Hospital, located nearby, was closed for renovation. Against its capacity of 500 patients, Bangar said the hospital was treating up to 600 daily.
CSM Hospital Superintendent Dr Rakesh Barot Sunday said “since the closure of the Civil Hospital, all the patients from Thane were brought here”.
“So there is a lack of doctors and medical facilities. The cause of death was different for each patient,” he added.
The hospital was also in the headlines last week over allegations by a group of people that five patients had died there in a day. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad had visited the spot and reiterated the allegations, which were denied by the hospital.
Meanwhile, authorities at the hospital say patients who are not in a serious condition and new admissions could be shifted to another hospital if they are willing to be relocated.
“We will shift only those patients who are recovering and from among the new admissions,” Dr Aniruddha Malgaonkar, medical superintendent of the CSMM Hospital, said Monday.
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Oppn hits out at CM
The TMC had been under the Shiv Sena for 20 years, before a state-government-appointed administrator took over pending elections.
The Opposition has torn into CM Shinde, who formed a rival faction of the Sena last year, over allegations of neglect at the hospital.
“The CM is not well, so he is taking rest but 18 patients died in one night in CM’s Thane, who is going to listen to their plight?” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said to reporters Monday.
“Normally, the CM reaches everywhere quickly but he still hasn’t reached Thane, which he represents. This is an unfortunate thing. Health minister should resign.”
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the deaths were “unfortunate” and “quite worrisome”.
“This happened in Thane, the bastion of CM. If this can happen in a civic-run hospital in CM’s Thane, then one can understand in which direction the state is heading,” Pawar said while interacting with media in Baramati Monday.
On Friday, NCP’s Awhad issued a statement where he said “as many as five persons died at the hospital in a single day (on Thursday) due to the negligence of the medical staff”.
“While on the one hand, patients are not being admitted to the hospital on the pretext of paucity of beds, the deceased ones are kept in the ICU for hours,” he added.
TMC Additional Municipal Commissioner in-charge of medical services Sandeep Malvi denied the “five deaths” allegation.
“One of the patients undergoing treatment at the hospital was very serious. He died during treatment,” he said. “Although his relatives did not question the hospital, others blamed the medical staff and made it a big issue.”
Malvi suggested the situation at CSMM was under control Monday, saying that in the 24-hour period ending Monday morning, three patients had died there, while one patient was brought dead.
The number of deaths has come down, and the details are being compiled and analysed, he said.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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