Mumbai: Patients in ICU, VN Desai Hospital doctor steps out for a party

Seven ICU patients at Santacruzrsquos VN Desai Hospital were left to their fate for hours on the night of September 16 after a contractual doctor left the premises to celebrate his birthday This is not a oneoff incident of shocking medical negligence said the staff at the civicrun peripheral hospital The nurses were so frustrated that their incharge wrote a note about the missing doctors in their diary at 340 am on September 17The hospital which has over 260 beds is supposed to have two doctors provided by an outsourcing agency round the clock The hospital employees said the doctors have absolutely no discipline ldquoThey come and go at their own will Often doctors leave much before their duty time is over and the ones in the next shift report late It means there are no doctors at the hospital during that periodrdquo said a stafferAlso read 19yearold lsquosextortionistrsquo held in Rajasthan for targeting Mumbai doctorWhile BMCrsquos hospitals with medical colleges have their own doctors to care for patients its peripheral hospitals are managed by outsourced doctors In the case of VN Desai Hospital Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust provides MD and MBBS doctors in shifts For this the BMC pays about R42 lakh to the trust every 125 days The birthday episode unfolded on September 16 when Dr Mandar Muley who was to be present in the trauma intensive care unit TICU reported at 10 pm an hour earlier than his scheduled timeThe complaint about missing doctors at VN Desai Hospital on the night of Sept 16A staffer who requested anonymity said ldquoDr Muley announced that he would be stepping out at 12 am to cut his birthday cake and return soon after He also informed that Dr Chetan who was in the medical intensive care unit would be available for TICU duty if requiredrdquo The nurses were stunned when the TICUrsquos sister requested Dr Chetan to come down saying Dr Muley had not returned ldquoInstead of coming to the trauma ICU Dr Chetan also disappeared This forced the nursing staff to lodge a complaint in their notebookrdquo said the source adding that Dr Chetan returned at 435 amldquoThis is inform to you that there is no Dr in TICU since 1 am Total 7 pts patients in wd So please do the needful sicrdquo reads the message written at 340 am The trauma ICU and medical ICU have 10 beds each Hospital sources cited more such instances of dereliction of duty On August 31 Dr Siddiqui an outsourced MD doctor left at 915 pm without a reliever There were 6 patients in the medical ICU at the time Calling the lapses a huge scam a doctor from a peripheral hospital said ldquoThe BMC wanted qualified MD doctors for ICU and emergency services but they are absent many a timerdquo The city has 16 peripheral hospitals and Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust provides doctors to many of them Sources said though there is a provision for a biometric attendance system it has not happenedldquoThe BMC pays about Rs 1 crore a year to the trust for VN Desai Hospital but there is a provision of a minuscule penalty of R100 for doctors who report late The terms and conditions of the contract with the trust must be revised The doctors many a time leave without relievers leaving patients on the ventilator unattended This is criminal There are many complaints on record Still their contracts get renewed every six monthsrdquo said a sourceAn official from the trust who requested not be identified said ldquoThere was a doctor available on duty Many a time doctors come from other hospitals and get delayed due to long commutes The hospital authorities mention late reporting in their complaint book but they donrsquot put on record when the doctors arrive on timerdquoAbout the doctorrsquos birthday party at the cost of patients Dr Vidya Thakur chief medical superintendent of peripheral hospitals told midday ldquoYes even I have got complaints about the same It is a serious issue I will speak to the medical superintendent of VN Desai Hospital and take actionrdquoThe negligence on the part of contractual doctors is not confined to the Santacruz hospital A senior staffer from Dr Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivli said ldquoWe also face the problem of unavailability of doctors We sometimes penalise them as per the terms of the contract but that doesnrsquot bother them much Their contract is ending next month and we will see to it that it doesnrsquot get renewed due to poor service We have conveyed the same to senior authorities at BMC toordquoRs 1crAmount paid by BMC for the contractual doctors