04 August 2010
By Yogesh Naik
Mumbai, India
Sight of Bodies Adds to Trauma of Patients
EXPOSED: When TOI visited the casualty ward on Sunday night, two bodies were kept in the corridor; one of them was not even covered “When I brought in my friend, who had been injured in a mishap, here I was disgusted to see bodies on stretchers in the corridor. This is simply not done,” said a Chembur resident requesting anonymity.
When TOI visited the casualty ward on Sunday night, two corpses were kept in the corridor; one of them was not even covered. Incidentally, Rajawadi is the only major civic hospital in the eastern suburbs and most accidents patients are rushed in here.
“If a patient in a medico-legal case dies, his/her body is kept in the casualty ward till further formalities are completed. Sometimes, the wait can stretch for a few hours before the bodies are transferred to the mortuary or the postmortem centre,” a staffer said.
“Till some months ago, the corpses used to be immediately shifted inside a room–which used to double as a morgue–near the casualty ward. Nowadays, we just line them up in the corridor so that the cops can complete the panchnama as soon as possible. On some occasions, there is no cloth put on the bodies. This completely shocks the patients who come for treatment. The sight of bodies depresses them even further,” the staffer added.
In fact, a medical officer in the hospital said,“I have observed that when heart patients are brought here, their condition worsens further. Besides, it is unhygienic as sometimes patients with open wounds are rushed here.”
Rajawadi’s acting medical superintendent, Dr Manohar Bhaskar said,“I do not think the bodies are a dirty sight. But if you can tell us about the ways to improve and the solution, we will definitely take it into consideration”
Incidentally, emulating KEM Hospital doctors, Rajawadi Hospital staffers and a few corporators had launched a cleanliness drive on Friday.“They swept the hospital premises but left the garbage just outside the casualty ward,” a patient said. Bhaskar blamed the civic staff of the N ward in Ghatkopar for this and said that it would be cleaned up soon.
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