In patient privacy breach, Hiranandani Hospital suspends ward boy for a week

Hospital says incident accidental; ward boy to get training; the female patient says her statement not recorded by hospital’s internal committee; she was unclothed at the time of ECG when the ward boy entered the curtained area

After the horrendous incident at Powai’s Hiranandani Hospital wherein a ward boy entered the makeshift ECG room where a female patient lay unclothed and unsupervised, the hospital, as an attempt at face-saving, suspended the ward boy for a week. The facility, though, maintained that he had accidentally entered the curtained area and it wasn’t intentional.

Hiranandani’s internal committee has submitted its report stating that he would be sent for sensitisation training for a week. It further claimed to have warned other staff on ‘privacy’ issues.

However, the patient, a 35year-old published author, termed the action farcical. She said that the hospital’s internal committee never contacted her to record her statement and submitted the report ex-parte. The incident was reported on Page 1 of the Free Press Journal on April 3.

As per a statement issued by the hospital, the matter was investigated by a committee comprising senior management. It states, “The incident was purely accidental; there was no intent whatsoever. However, as it has occurred, the incident is deeply regretted…”

The patient said the decision is completely vague. She said, “I have no idea who the committee members are and if any social activists are part of the committee. Moreover, they did not even share the minutes of the investigation. They suspended the housekeeping staff but what about the nurse who left me unattended and didn’t inform others that I was in for the ECG,” she said.

She further said that she has reverted to the email sent by the hospital in which she has asked several questions, which have to be answered by the hospital. “If I don’t get any revert from the hospital, I will consult experts and further decide the course of action,” she said.

Last week, on Saturday, the patient had narrated the harrowing experience on social media. She had posted, “I wanted to make a complaint but the nurse minimised my experience and refused to give me the name of the staffer, who by then had begun to apologise.

She was speaking to the other nurses, discussing my situation and brushing it off like it meant nothing! Which was infuriating! I then stormed off to the front counter and demanded to meet the manager... They apologised but it did nothing to make me feel better.”