Situation returning to normal at Thane civic hospital after mob scare

Situation was returning to normal at a civicrun hospital in Maharashtras Thane city on Friday hours after a mob gathered there and questioned the authorities alleging the death of five persons in a day allegedly due to negligence officials told the PTIHeavy deployment of police was put in place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa Thane where the incident took place late Thursday night The hospital authorities however denied the charge saying that only one patient died there during the day as against the allegation of five fatalities according to the PTIBy afternoon the deployment of policemen was also reduced since the mob had dispersed said an official as per the PTIAccording to the news agency the Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad also visited the hospital and alleged the five patients died due to negligence and also claimed that the hospital pretends to treat patients even after their death to make moneyLater in the day he demanded that the state government take over the hospital from the Thane civic body for better managementA group of around hundred people gathered at the civicrun hospital around 1030 pm on Thursday They questioned the hospital authorities over the death of patients accusing them of negligence No untoward incident occurred a personnel of Thane police control room told PTIAfter the incident heavy deployment of police was put in place at the hospital he saidNCP leader Awhad issued a statement on Friday morning in which he alleged As many as five persons died at the hospital in a single day on Thursday due to the negligence of the medical staff While on the one hand patients are not being admitted to the hospital on the pretext of paucity of beds the deceased ones are kept in the ICU for hoursWriting about it on X formerly known as Twitter Awhad said One woman called me saying that her husband was not receiving proper medical treatment at the hospital When I went there I came to know that her husband was being treated in the general ward I was then informed that he has been shifted to the ICUWhen I went to the ICU I was told that the patient had already died but doctors and the hospital administration was treating him for five hours The woman was not informed about her husbands death When I questioned the doctors about it they could not answer he saidAwhad alleged that the hospital run by the Thane Municipal Corporation TMC was looting patients by issuing inflated bills The hospital is making money by falsely treating patients even after their death he claimedWhen contacted TMCs Additional Municipal Commissioner incharge of medical services Sandeep Malvi told PTI that five patients did not die at the hospital in a single dayOne of the patients undergoing treatment at the hospital was very serious He died during treatment Although his relatives did not question the hospital others blamed the medical staff and made it a big issue he saidThe hospital takes utmost care of the patients and ensures that each and every patient is attended to properly he saidThe load at the hospital has increased manifold The ICU which has a capacity of 50 patients handles more than 70 patients Malvi saidIn a recent meeting presided over by Thane District Guardian Minister Shamburaj Desai MLA Sanjay Kelkar took up the issue of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa saying that the administration needs to improve its situation failing which the situation might slip out of handAddressing a press conference later in the day Awhad reiterated his demand that the hospital being managed by the TMC be handed over to the state government for better managementAwhad said patients are suffering at the Kalwa hospital as it has become a mess The legislator said patients are not attended to or admitted to the hospital for a long time while bodies are lying on beds for hoursHe also claimed that patients are forced to sit or lie down on the floor and surgeries are getting delayed in the hospital Cleanliness is a big worry he saidThe former minister said he had earlier given a proposal to hand over the hospital to the state government for better management but that did not happenAwhad said he would not blame the present Thane civic chief for the poor condition of the hospital and it is the result of years of negligenceAwhad said the transport and health infrastructure of Thane city is in bad shapeHe said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who is from Thane must address these issueswith PTI inputs