Delhi govt notice to GTB Hospital for turning patient away
The dismissal of the resident doctor has created a furor among doctors’ associations which have called this move a “face-saver” by the government
Five days after a 47-year-old man died after being denied admission in three government hospitals, the Delhi government’s health department on Monday issued a show cause notice to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital — one of the facilities that turned the patient away — ordering the termination of a senior resident doctor who was on duty on the day of the incident.
The dismissal of the resident doctor has created a furor among doctors’ associations which have called this move a “face-saver” by the government.
“The episode shows lack of empathy and professionalism among the medical officers... as well as lack of supervision on the part of the concerned medical director,” the show cause notice said.
It added, “Medical director, GTBH is hereby directed to immediately terminate the services of Dr Amit (on-duty senior resident neurosurgery on January 3). Further, Dr Asmita M Rathore, medical director, GTBH is also directed to explain the reason for the above lapse on her part within three days of receiving this SCN failing which action as deemed fit shall be initiated against her.”
On January 3, Pramod Kumar was seriously injured after he jumped from a moving police patrol van while being taken to a police station in northeast Delhi in an inebriated condition. The Delhi police said that Kumar was taken to three hospitals — GTB and Lok Nayak Hospital — run by the Delhi government — and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, managed by the central government, but he was denied admission in all these facilities citing a lack of beds and medical facilities. While being taken from one hospital to the other, the man died.
GTB hospital’s administration did not respond to queries seeking comment. Senior officials from Lok Nayak Hospital, which was also among the three hospitals that turned the patient away, confirmed that they had not received any order seeking action. The hospital is, however, conducting an internal inquiry into the matter.
RML spokesperson also did not respond to HT’s queries.
Resident doctors’ associations hit out at the health department order and said the government has tried to make a scapegoat of a senior doctor.
“Instead of finding the root cause of why the patient was transferred, they are trying to cover up their inadequacies of beds, manpower and equipment. I would like to highlight that a senior resident has no power in such cases,” said Dr Rohan Krishnan from the Federation of All India Medical Association.