Ranchi hospital serves food to patient on floor, says 'no plates'

Apathy towards a patient in one of the biggest government hospitals in Jharkhand has left people shocked. Ranchi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), reported Dainik Bhaskar, served food to a patient on the floor after the hospital’s kitchen staff claimed that they were all out of plates. Palmati Devi, who had a fractured hand, was served rice, dal and vegetable on the floor which she was told to clean by the ward boys on Wednesday. The disturbing image was first published by Dainik Bhaskar. Social media was outraged at the apathy shown by one of the leading hospitals in the state, whose annual budget is approximately Rs 300 crore, Dainik Bhaskar reported. [caption id=“attachment_3017916” align=“alignleft” width=“650”] Image by Dainik Bhaskar. Shared on twitter by @GauravPandhi[/caption] A patient of the orthopaedic ward of the hospital, Palmati Devi did not have her own plate and when asked was rudely was told off by ward boys. After the incident, the ward boy who served her food on the floor has been sacked and disposable plates were ordered immediately. Speaking to NDTV, RIMS director BL Sherwal said, “It’s not a common practice but we have started an inquiry and will take action those who served the food on the floor and then forced her to eat from there.” Palmati’s instance is one of the many other examples of hospitals’ apathy towards patients. The most recent one being that of Odisha's Dana Manjhi who carried his wife’s body after the hospital denied him a hearse to carry the body. Dana Majhi had left the hospital with his wife’s body in the wee hours of 24 August without informing anyone at the hospital. The hospital had a hearse but nobody informed the personnel concerned about the death of the woman or the need to carry the body to his village. Majhi, however, had told reporters that he approached the hospital staff but they paid no heed. “I did not want to keep the body of my wife at the hospital for long and left the place for cremation as per tribal rituals at our village,” he said. The incident triggered nationwide outcry after Majhi, accompanied by his 12-year-old daughter, was seen walking with his wife’s body on his shoulder on being allegedly denied a hearse by the hospital. An ambulance was arranged only after he had covered 10 km to take the body to his home at Melghara village, about 60 km from Bhawanipatna. In another incident, a 12-year-old boy died on his father’s shoulder in Kanpur after a hospital refused to admit him. Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital, one of Kanpur’s biggest hospital, refused to admit 12-year-old Ansh and delayed his treatment by 30 minutes which caused his death, Ansh’s father Sunil Kumar alleged. The hospital authorities then allegedly told him to take his son to a children’s hospital which was 250 metres away, Mid-Day reported. And the list doesn’t end here.