Dy CM asks for inquiry into 23 missing patients

23 COVID PATIENTS ADMITTED TO HINDU RAO HOSPITAL LEFT BETWEEN APRIL 19 AND MAY 6 WITHOUT INFORMING AUTHORITIES

NEW DELHI: Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday called for an urgent inquiry into 23 Covid-19 patients going missing from the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Hindu Rao Hospital.

Taking cognisance of a report published in Hindustan Times on Sunday, Sisodia said in a letter: “It is very shocking that to note that such a large number (of) Covid-19 patients have gone missing from Hindu Rao Hospital in spite of separate wards... It is not only dangerous to the lives of these patients but also a setback to the efforts of the government, which has imposed curfew/ lockdown to break the chain and to check the spread of this dreaded disease.”

Directing the state health department to submit the findings by Monday evening, Sisodia said: “Responsibility [should] be fixed and action be taken against erring officials.”

HT reported on Sunday that between April 19 and May 6 this year, 23 Covid-19 patients admitted to Hindu Rao Hospital left without informing hospital authorities. The hospital does not know whether these patients have been transferred into other Covid-19 hospitals or have left for their homes.

While the civic body officials said that they informed police about instances of patients leaving against medical advice (LAMA), Delhi Police officials on Saturday denied having received any complaint from either the hospital or the municipality.

This is not the first time that the Hindu Rao Hospital has reported such cases. Last year, between June 27 and July 18, five Covid-19-positive patients left the hospital without informing the authorities.

North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash said that the civic agency will do everything in its power to give the details of the 23 missing patients. However, he said that the security of the Covid-19 hospitals in Delhi is managed by the Delhi’ government’s civil defence and the deputy CM should seek answers about the lapse in security from their own officials.

“Why does the government first not call an inquiry on the hoarding of oxygen cylinders and other equipment by their own ministers and MLAS, or regarding the shortage of oxygen supply in the city that led to the death of so many people in Delhi?” Prakash said.