A preliminary probe into the death of 74-year-old Subhendu Bikash Ghoshal at SSKM Hospital has pointed fingers at negligence on the part of the ward boy and the healthcare team at the Mackenzie ward.
The 74-year-old patient died on Wednesday afternoon, an hour after he was brought to the emergency wing of the hospital with severe breathing problems. Ghoshal was suffering from deep vein thrombosis, too, but had to allegedly wait for 40 minutes at the emergency wing.
Later, Ghoshal was shifted to the Mackenzie ward on a trolley and he had to wear an oxygen mask. A ward boy was assigned to escort Ghoshal to the ward. He took off the oxygen mask after reaching the ward.
A post-graduate trainee (PGT) arrived several minutes later to find that Ghoshal had already died. Ghoshal’s family members lodged a complaint against the ward boy and doctors, forcing the hospital authority to start an inquiry.
An inquiry team of the hospital found the ward boy guilty of “a rash act” for removing the mask from Ghoshal’s face without waiting for the nurses or the medical team to arrive with an oxygen refill. “The man was in a serious condition and might have died in any case, but he should have been kept on the trolley, irrespective of his condition. I have instructed all medical departments that utmost care must be taken while shifting a patient from a trolley to a bed,” said Santanu Tripathi, hospital superintendent.
The probe also found that the medical team should have acted more swiftly. A detailed report will reach the government in a day’s time.
The parents of 23-year-old Moumita Kundu met the hospital superintendent during the day. Moumita, an asthma patient, died in the hospital after she was forced to climb the stairs in the absence of liftmen. “They have demanded justice and we have assured them that the culprits would be brought to book,” Tripathi added.
Dacoits held: Four armed dacoits raided a businessman’s office on Jamunalal Bajaj Street in the Burrabazar police station area and fled with Rs 70,000 on Saturday evening. Three of the robbers were arrested by tracing a call made from one of the cellphones that they had snatched from the employees.
