Uttar Pradesh state has come under the radar again, this time for the case of negligence from a hospital for a corona positive man who went out of the premises and was later found dead.
The CCTV footage of the hospital shows the 57-year-old patient walking out of the government healthcare facility within 24 hours of his admission there. He was found dead among the bushes on Sunday evening. The body was found only 500 meters far from the hospital.
The tragic incident took place in Prayagraj city of Uttar Pradesh in its state-run facility where the man was brought by his family members after testing to be positive for the infection.
The family of the deceased blamed the hospital for the grave matter causing them “negligent”. They also said that their clan member had “escaped” from there as he allegedly underwent harassment.
Hospital management did not accept any of the accusations and also denied any connection with his “escape”.
The coronavirus patient was admitted on Friday evening to Swaroop Rani Nehru hospital in Prayagraj as he faced difficulty in breathing. It is a 3rd level state-run center for covid-19 positive persons who show symptoms.
Giving weight to the claims of the family, its members gave an audio recording to the police which they say was a conversation between them and the patient who had called them early Sunday morning. This was much before he walked out of the hospital. They claim that he had mentioned that the staff was paying a deaf ear to his complaints.
“My mouth was dry all night. I felt suffocated, probably because of the ventilator. I tried to tell a few people here to help but no one listened,” the man can be heard saying in the alleged audio clip released by the family on Sunday.
According to the CCTV recordings, a man looking similar to the one in the above context can be seen walking out of the hospital’s covid ward gate. As on the timestamp of the video, it was 4.30 pm on Saturday. Around half a minute later, the video shows some men going past the same gate to walk out.
The hospital management alleged that the group of men were its facility workers and had left to find follow the patient and get him back to the ward.
“This patient had fever and breathing problems. His condition was improving. But he walked out all of a sudden. The doctors tried to stop him but before anyone could understand what was happening, the patient left. We immediately informed the police,” said Dr. SP Singh, the principal of the SRN Hospital.
Later on Sunday, the CCTV further shows workers wearing PPE kits to remove the body which was amid the bushes outside the Prayagraj police officer’s home.
The shook daughter of the deceased man spoke to the media and said, “My father is no more. This is all because of the negligence of the hospital. Patients are harassed there. My father walked out of the award and no one was held responsible. No one was providing food until the money was given.”
Previous similar incidences at the hospital have gained it a lot of negative publicity. The government facility was held responsible for the death of a 65-year-old covid-19 patient who died calling the staff for help. In the video shared across many social media platforms, the man can be seen crying his lungs out for help from the hospital staff, yet no one reaches to the dying man’s aid. This case of sheer carelessness and inhuman attitude portrayed by the hospital was called out widely by people on the internet.
The management of the hospital had denied the accusations at that time as well.
