Cuttack: In a shocking incident of medical negligence, an accident victim was allegedly left unattended at the casualty of SCB Medical College and Hospital (MCH) in Odisha’s Cuttack city for ten hours on Sunday night and later forced by a medical officer to visit a private hospital instead.
According to sources, Balaram Mishra (56) was admitted to the casualty of SCB with a cut in his left hand near the armpit and required immediate surgery but the doctor on duty at SCB instead of attending to him allegedly asked his attendant to take him to a private nursing home for better treatment.
“As no one was attending to the patient, I approached the doctor on duty several times and was asked to wait. Later, we were asked to take the patient to the dressing room but were not provided any wheelchair or stretcher. When we somehow managed to take him there, we were asked to take him to a private nursing home and were told that the surgery would cost Rs 40,000-50,000,” Balaram’s attendant Santosh Kumar Padhi told the media.
He further alleged that Balaram was left unattended for about ten hours. He brought the matter to the notice of the hospital authorities and following pressure from some volunteers, a team of doctors from surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery and cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) performed the surgery on Monday.
Speaking to media, SCB Medical College Superintendent Prof Dr Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra said the surgery has been conducted and the allegations will be looked into.
Balaram, who is from Balasore and works as a mason in Bhubaneswar, was injured while he working with a cutter at Padhi’s house in Samantarapur area in Bhubaneswar. He was rushed immediately to the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar and then referred to the SCB after primary treatment.
