8 hour Delay in Shifting Patient: AMRI Hospitals directed to refund money

The patient has been identified as a 13-year-old girl who was suffering from fever for days before she was brought to the facility. The regulatory commission said there was an alleged delay of eight hours in shifting the girl from the Salt Lake unit to the paediatric intensive care unit at Mukundapur. The commission's head stated that they were attempting to determine if the child's death was only due to hospital administration or whether there was also medical malpractice.

Retired judge Ashim Banerjee, chairperson of the commission said that the girl was a resident of Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district, and she was admitted to AMRI Salt Lake on February 26 evening with a seven-day fever. "She was very weak and she was even unable to walk outside the AMRI building for tests. She has advised admission jointly under an ENT and a paediatrician. However, according to the patient's party, the doctors confirmed that there was no serious health complication" he added.

The doctors suggested some tests and there was a delay of two to three hours in admitting the patient. The doctors could not diagnose the exact illness of the patient. At night, her condition became more critical. The doctors decided to shift her to a paediatric critical care unit. However, as there was no Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Salt Lake hospital but the patient had to be rushed to the Mukundapur unit, which has a paediatric intensive care unit, said, Banerjee. The hospital can only arrange a bed for the patient at 9.30 pm.

"The petition claimed that there was an alleged delay of eight hours in shifting her. She was not admitted to the Mukundapur unit at 5.30 pm. The hospital has cited several reasons for the delay but the bench was not fully satisfied with its explanation. The girl passed away at night on February 28. We have heard both parties and kept our final order on hold. There were also charges of medical negligence against the facility of Salt Lake," Justice Banerjee said.

The commission further added, "This is basically a case of medical negligence. However, a deficiency in service by the hospital still remains a possibility. We noticed some problems related to the billing process. After carefully listening to both parties, we have decided to keep the final order on hold. For the time being, we have directed AMRI Salt Lake to initiate a refund of Rs 9,118 and AMRI Mukundapur cough up Rs 5,492 to pay the patient's family."

The patient had medical insurance. However, as she was discharged from the first hospital within "less than 24 hours", the hospital refused to consider her within the purview of the medical insurance. "The patient's party had to arrange cash to pay the bill separately. However, surprisingly, when the patient finally was discharged, 24 hours had passed since her admission. The hospital has not given any reasonable explanation on this as well," Banerjee added.