File picture of Capital Hospital

Bhubaneswar, June 12: Tension gripped Capital Hospital today as relatives of a patient, who died last night, alleged neglect by the hospital’s doctors. They had a scuffle with policemen at the hospital in the morning.

The relatives said 28-year-old Sabitri Das, who hailed from Nayagarh, was rushed to the hospital around 6.30pm. She had complained of difficulty in breathing. After preliminary treatment by doctors, she was declared dead around 9pm.

“However, when I checked her pulse, I noticed it was still beating. Even a member of the hospital staff on duty, whom I called, felt the beat of her pulse. But when we went to call the doctors, nobody responded,” said Gopal Behera, brother of the deceased.

The family members alleged that when they requested doctors present in the emergency casualty department, they refused to see the patient.

“They asked us to call the same doctor, who had declared her dead,” alleged Behera.

By the time the doctor, who had first attended her, arrived, the patient had died. Family members and relatives of the deceased woman, who had come to stay with her parents for Raja in Saliasahi area in the city, shouted slogans against the hospital authorities and demanded an explanation from them.

As the hospital authorities did not pay any heed to their demands, the family members got angry. Police soon rushed to the hospital and tried to pacify the angry mob.

Even after nearly 12 hours of the incident, the hospital authorities did not meet the relatives of the deceased to listen to their demands. So, many local residents of Saliasahi reached the hospital in the morning.

Around 75 people protested against the hospital authorities by forcibly taking the body to the casualty department. Soon, a platoon of police force rushed to the spot. While trying to take the body out of the casualty department, the police personnel and the deceased’s relatives had a scuffle.

Later, deputy chief medical officer, D.N. Swain reached the spot and assured the agitating mob that an enquiry would be conducted and the report submitted in seven days.

According to Swain, Das was suffering from a disease affecting her heart valve and lungs. “Our cardiologist first attended to her. But her condition deteriorated within one-and-half hours. The doctor finally declared her dead after check up,” said Swain, adding that doctors who were in the casualty department could not leave the department as they were on emergency duty.

“The doctors present there could have handled it perfectly by explaining the reason of death to the family members of the patient. All this happened due to miscommunication,” added Swain.