Hospital under scanner for negligence: Official

JAIPUR: A private hospital in Bhilwara from where 14 coronavirus cases were reported is under scanner of the health department for negligence, officials said.

Dr KK Sharma, director, public health, who was based in Bhilwara for two days overseeing the intensive effort by health department and administration to control the situation, said the Bangar hospital is under scanner.

“Reports are being prepared by a central team of experts that was in Bhilwara and by the state teams. Based on their reports, action will be taken if any laxity is found,” Dr Sharma said.

The first case of coronavirus in Bhilwara was a doctor who works at Bangar hospital. Subsequently, another 13 cases have been reported; they are doctors at the hospital, their families or staff.

Till the Bhilwara case, the coronavirus cases reported i n Rajasthan were either of foreigners or those who had returned from abroad. But Bhilwara reported the first case of a local being infected with the virus.

Health minister Raghu Sharma said with the doctor testing positive, there was the danger of community spread of the disease. He said there were 253 staff at the hospital but it was not known how many the doctor was in contact with. “Apart from that, patients from Bhilwara and nearby districts also come to the hospital and contact tracing has to be done,” the minister said.

Public health director Dr Sharma said, “Two doctors were unwell since March 11 but they still went to the hospital and did CT scans and were in contact with patients. Later the hospital administration sent them to Jaipur by taxi and the driver had worn a mask. That means they were doubtful but did not inform the district or state authorities.”

He said another doctor’s son had visited from the US and he too could be a carrier but the doctor did not inform authorities.

Collector Rajendra Bhatt said, “There appears to be carelessness on part of the hospital as it did not inform authorities after a patient, admitted in the hospital with symptoms similar to coronavirus, died of pneumonia.”

Dr Sharma said after the coronavirus cases were reported, the hospital authorities used three of its ambulances and two private ambulances to shift patients from wards to private hospitals in neighbouring Udaipur, Ajmer, Kota, Tonk and Jaipur districts.

He said the ambulances have been traced and sanitised and the drivers and their families have been screened and their samples taken. The patients who were shifted have also been identified and isolated, he said.

Calls to Banger hospital CEO Mahesh Jaithlia went unanswered but in a social media message circulated in Bhilwara, he has denied any involvement of the hospital doctors.