File picture of Sum Hospital in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, May 16: Tension prevailed in Sum hospital today as relatives of a patient accused its staff of neglect.

According to Naresh Nayak, the brother of a patient who was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, the hospital staff did not take proper care of his brother, who had been kept in the intensive care unit (ICU) as he had suffered brain injuries in an accident.

“Last night, while a nurse called the attendants of the patient of bed No. 12, I went inside only to see to my surprise that my brother was shifted to another bed without my knowledge. When I asked the nurse what has she done with the medicines worth Rs 8,000 I gave her for the patient of bed No. 12, she could not give me any satisfactory reply,” said Naresh, adding that when he called the superintendent to convey to him this matter, the superintendent did not respond and later switched off his mobile phone.

Tension prevailed at the hospital in the morning when a friend of the same patient found the ventilators fitted to him were switched off.

The patient’s friend alleged that when he asked a member of the hospital staff about the matter, they behaved with him rudely and handed him a bill to pay before any further service can be provided.

“This morning, I told a nurse that I wanted to see the patient. She went inside and did not return as I waited for more than 20 minutes. I then entered into the ICU and found the ventilator attached to the patient was switched off. When I asked a member of the staff inside the ICU why the machine was switched off, they behaved rudely with me and asked me to pay the bill first,” said R. K. Khan, a friend of the patient.

Later, the family members and relatives of the patients gathered in front of the hospital’s ICU and asked the staff about the reason for showing such kind of negligence towards a patient. The hospital authority called the police, which took control of the situation.

“Only after the police convinced the hospital authorities, they let our patient leave the hospital for a better one,” said Gopal Nayak, a relative of the patient.

The hospital authorities, however, said that they had provided the patients the best possible medical treatment. “We had never shown any negligence to the patient. All the allegations made by the patient’s family members are baseless. They wanted to take the patient from here and we allowed them,” said B.N. Panda, medical superintendent of Sum Hospital.