Hospital vandalised after elderly turned away
GURGAON : Family members of a 78-year-old man, an army veteran and a cancer patient, allegedly vandalised the Sector 10 government hospital along with other protesters on Saturday night.
His kin alleged that the hospital authorities demanded ₹5,000 as bribe to provide blood to the cancer patient and he was denied treatment as they refused to oblige.
Brijesh Kumar (38), the son of Tej Ram, the patient, said that he had been suffering from prostate cancer for the last six years and had been getting treatment from Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
Kumar said that as directed by doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital, he took his father to Sector 10 government hospital for blood transfusion around 5pm on Saturday.
“My father has a deficiency of haemoglobin and the doctors had advised blood transfusion. I took him to the (Sector 10) government hospital on Saturday and briefed the doctor on his condition,” Kumar, a resident of Bijwasan and a teacher by profession, said.
Kumar said that the doctor on the duty at the time, duly agreed to treat his father and asked him to fetch the required amount of blood from a nearby blood bank.
He said he went to Rotary Blood Bank, which is around 3km away from the hospital, fetched blood for his father.
He said that when he returned to the hospital, the doctor said his shift had ended and a new doctor will attend to his father.
He said that after waiting for a while, a new doctor came and he briefed him on his father’s condition.
He claimed that the doctor a sked him to fork out ₹5,000 for his father’s treatment.
“I refused to pay as I had brought my father to a government hospital,” Kumar said.
He said minutes later, he and his father were asked to leave the hospital premises as the doctor had refused to attend to him.
After being turned away, the family members, long with some local relatives, allegedly vandalised the hospital.
The family members are yet to lodge a complaint with the police.
“My father is in trauma since being turned away from the hospital, and hence, I haven’t filed a police complaint as yet,” Kumar said.
The health department will look into the complaint.
“The matter has been brought to our notice. It is a very serious allegation, as no doctor can refuse to attend to a patient or ask for money. In this case, a cancer patient is alleged to have been denied blood transfusion. We will verify facts and take strict action,” Dr. BK Rajora, chief medical officer, Civil Hospital, Gurgaon, said.
The matter has been brought to our notice. It is a very serious allegation, as no doctor can refuse to attend to a patient or ask for money. We will verify facts and take strict action. BK RAJORA, chief medical officer, Civil Hospital