Patient dumped on sidewalk, 2 sacked

MUMBAI: After a video was widely circulated on social media showing a senior citizen, who was getting treatment at KEM Hospital in Parel, left unattended on a side walk, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said two contractual paramedical employees have been removed from duty for not doing their duty.

The unidentified patient was admitted to KEM Hospital for stomach pain. The resident doctor attending to him referred him to a senior doctor to see if surgery was needed for his ailment on Friday, according to the civic body.

Two paramedics were given the responsibility of taking him to the new hospital building for examination by the senior doctor. Later, a citizen brought to the administration’s notice that a patient from the hospital was left unattended outside gate 6, which leads to the hospital mortuary. The patient was then moved back to the ward where he was being treated.

The hospital administration set up an enquiry into the matter and pulled out CCTV footage to find ou how the patient ended up outside the gate, BMC said in a statement.

According to CCTV footage, two contractual employees walked the patient out through the passage near the morgue and abandoned him outside gate 6. KEM hospital administration said no carelessness has happened on the hospital’s part.

A civic official said, “The two contractual staff were given a show-cause notice, after which they have been removed from duty.”