Khurda: Trouble keeps pouring in from several directions for the SUM Hospital authorities as the family members of a patient, who succumbed at SCB Medical College and Hospital after the fire tragedy, alleged that the victim was dropped from a stretcher by the hospital staff during rescue operation October 17.
Sheikh Kurban Khan (24), a mason, was admitted to SUM Hospital after he met with a road mishap on the same day. He was shifted to the SCBMCH following the fire tragedy where he succumbed Friday.
Khan’s relatives alleged carelessness of the hospital staff during the fire mishap had led to the death of the sole breadwinner of the family. They sought stringent action against the hospital management.
Khan, son of Sheikh Kamarul, had begun a conjugal life a few years ago and was blessed with a girl child.
Family sources said Khan was admitted to the district headquarters hospital (DHH) with multiple injuries, but the DHH had referred Khan to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar as his condition deteriorated. Khan’s family had shifted him to SUM Hospital for better treatment.
Sources said Khan was in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the private hospital when fire broke out. He had reportedly vomited blood when some panicked hospital staff took off the ventilator. Moreover, SUM Hospital employees did not take adequate care while rescuing Khan. “The hospital staff had dropped Khan while carrying him on a stretcher. His condition worsened after the fire mishap. He died while being treated at SCBMCH in Cuttack,” claimed MD Akbar, a relative.
Akbar has sought an impartial probe into the fire mishap and exemplary punishment to the guilty. “The administration should provide adequate compensation to the bereaved family and include it under various welfare schemes of the government,” Akbar said.
Kamarul said, “The management of the private hospital was charging hefty amount from the patients without developing proper infrastructure on the hospital premises. The state government should punish the hospital owner and other officials for the loss of 26 lives,” he said. PNN
