A large number of people gathered at a civic hospital in Maharashtra’s Thane on Thursday night, alleging that five people died due to “negligence” in a day, following which a heavy police force was deployed at the hospital. Officials gave this information on Friday. Refuting the allegations, the officials of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa said that only one patient died on Thursday. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad also visited the hospital and alleged that five patients died due to ‘negligence’. They claimed that the hospital pretended to treat patients even after death for money.
A Thane police control room personnel told, “A crowd of around 100 people gathered at the hospital run by the civic body around 10.30 pm on Thursday. They questioned the hospital authorities regarding the death of the patients and accused them of negligence.” He told that after the incident, a large number of police force has been deployed in the hospital. NCP leader Awhad issued a statement on Friday morning alleging, “Due to the negligence of the medical staff, five people died in the hospital in a single day (on Thursday). Patients are not being admitted to the hospital on the pretext of shortage, while the dead are kept in the ICU for hours.”
The MLA wrote on the social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), “A woman called me and told me that her husband was not being treated properly in the hospital. When I went there, I came to know that her husband is being treated in the general ward. Then I was told that he has been shifted to the ICU.” Awhad claimed, “When I went to the ICU, I was told that the patient had died, but the doctors and the hospital administration were treating him for five hours. The woman was not informed about her husband’s death. When I questioned the doctors about this, they could not give any answer.”
Awhad alleged that the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC)-run hospital was looting patients by issuing exorbitant bills. He claimed that the hospital is earning money by treating patients even after their death. When contacted, Sandeep Malvi, TMC’s additional municipal commissioner and in-charge of medical services, told that not more than five patients died in a day at the hospital. He said, “The condition of one of the patients undergoing treatment at the hospital was very serious. He died during treatment. Though his relatives did not question the hospital, others blamed the medical personnel and made it a big issue.”
Malvi said, ‘The burden on the hospital has increased manifold. The capacity of the ICU is 50 patients, but more than 70 patients are admitted in it.’