Alleged Negligence in treatment of 2 mentally ill patients at Dhanbad Hospital, NHRC seeks report from Govt

Dhanbad: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Jharkhand Government and the Chief Secretary following reports that two mentally ill patients at the government-run Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH) in Dhanbad were not being provided any medical treatment by the doctors.

The media report also carried pictures of the helpless patients lying without clothes on the floor. Reportedly, the Superintendent of the hospital has stated that there are no doctors available to treat mentally ill patients. The hospital staff provides food to them in polythene bags.   

The report should include the steps taken and proposed to be taken by the hospital management to improve the situation at the hospital so that the patients approaching the hospital are treated with dignity and not denied medical care. The Commission would also like to know the present status of the medical treatment being provided to both the victims.  

According to the media report, carried on 21st June 2024, a temporary partition has been created in a veranda between the High Dependency Units and Geriatric wards and named as a ward for abandoned/ unknown patients. The medical Superintendent reportedly stated that there is a shortage of staff and things can work for these patients only if some NGO takes care of them.