Kolkata: It is not rare for patient families to abandon the patient government hospital even after discharge. But it is not every day that one comes across similar cases in private hospitals. A well-known private hospital has moved the state health panel over a woman in her 40s who has been staying at the hospital for over two years. Her husband, who brought her to the hospital, has not come to take her back home or settled the hospital bill.
According to sources, the patient, a resident of Kolkata, was admitted by her husband to Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals (AMH) in September 2021 with a head injury. She underwent a life-saving neurosurgery. The injury had left her immobile and with a tracheostomy. The husband was told to take her home after doctors shifted her to the ward as doctors said that she was best kept under home care.Since then the husband has neither come to take her nor clear the hospital dues and has not responded to the hospital’s numerous reminders.
Unlike other cases where it is the patients or their families who lodge complaints against hospitals, this time it was the hospital which knocked on the health commission’s door seeking a solution to the issue.
“No one came to take the patient home nor did anyone pay the hospital bill. We tried contacting Jaiprakash Gupta, who admitted the patient. But he did not appear for the hearing. We have told Apollo that this was a fit and proper case to approach the court of law,” said Justice (retd) Ashim Kumar Banerjee, chairman WBCERC.
The patient currently is in hospital under conservative treatment. Even as she is fully conscious, she is immobile due to paralysis and cannot speak. “It is sad that her husband has not come back to take her home and made her languish in the hospital. We’ve taken care of her for over two years and will continue to provide all support till her family comes to take her home,” said an AMH official.