Kolkata: Blind dialysis patient's channel comes off, hospital staff too late to notice

One of the upmarket private hospitals off the EM Bypass is once again in news for the wrong reasons. It has been alleged that due to the negligence of some staffers of the Apollo Hospital, the intravenous channel of a visually impaired patient, who was undergoing dialysis, came off and led to acute blood loss. Following the incident, the patient's health has deteriorated.

Sources within the hospital said, at around 7.30 pm, one of the technicians of the dialysis ward discovered that Saurav Saha Roy's channel had come off and a puddle of blood had accumulated on the floor next to his bed. "The condition of the patient deteriorated and he was kept under ventilation," the official said adding that there are about 25-30 beds for dialysis patients in the ward and at any given point of time there should be at least 8-10 trained persons to cater to them. "It has been often observed that technicians and nurses, especially during the night shift, sit in one corner and are busy with their phones for hours," the official further added.

The source said since Roy was visually impaired, he had no idea about the channel coming off, otherwise he could have raised an alarm.

Senior officials of the hospital feigned ignorance over the incident but, assured to look into the matter. "I am on leave and would join duty on Monday. I can look into the matter only tomorrow," said Dr Partha Bhattacharya, medical superintendent of the hospital.

Deputy general manager Dulal Chakraborty said, "We will definitely look into it very seriously. Whatever action is to be taken, will be taken after verification and scrutinisation. I am surprised to hear that technicians are busy gossiping while the patient is on dialysis. It is a serious concern." He added that there was no CCTV inside the patients' room for confidentiality.

Interestingly, the newly-appointed general manager Mehr Khatri's wife is also a dialysis patient. "I totally agree that this is something that needs to be looked into. I am not aware of the incident but, will find out," Khatri said.

AUTHORITIES SPEAK

Senior officials of the hospital feigned ignorance over the incident but, assured to look into the matter. They said the patients’ rooms do not have CCTVs to maintain confidentiality