Guwahati: In a shocking case of medical negligence at the ESIC Hospital in Beltola, Guwahati, a woman who needed a hip surgery is about to be amputated following an allegedly botched operation at the hands of the resident doctors.
Rina Devi was admitted to the ESIC Hospital in Beltola on May 9 for a hip joint surgery, but after her operation, the family noticed that the lower part of her right leg had turned completely red. “For the next five or six days, we kept asking the doctors what was happening, but they insisted that this was a routine operation,” said Kaushik Goswami, her son. However, the worst fears came true for the family when they realised that Rina Devi’s wound post the operation had turned out to be gangrene. On Sunday morning, the family was told that the only option left was amputation.
“The facilities are horrible here,” Kaushik Goswami told EastMojo. “There are no stretchers, no proper emergency facilities, and now the doctors have botched up this operation. Why should anyone come to ESIC or opt for ESIC? We had to call an expert from a private hospital who informed us how bad the situation has become. My mother is not old, she is not ill and apart from this surgery, she was absolutely fine. Now, she might have to live as an amputee for the rest of her life,” Goswami, who works at a private firm and received coverage under ESIC as part of his employment, added.
Kaushik said during the operation, a wrong nerve was cut, and this, he believed, happened because the senior doctors left during the operation and left a junior doctor in charge of the operation.
The family named Dr Rakesh Yadav and Dr Palash Bora as the doctors who conducted the operation. However, EastMojo was unable to reach the two doctors for a comment or the hospital administration for further information. The family also said they would raise the issue on social media, especially on Twitter and tag ministers and the Medical Council of India.
At the time of filing this report, the amputation was confirmed. However, the doctors said they would need more time to confirm the extent of the infection.
Employees’ State Insurance Corporation is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. The fund is managed by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation according to rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI Act 1948.
The ESIC scheme was started in Assam with five centres at Guwahati, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Dhubri and Makum in 1958 and was later extended to other districts of Assam.
Currently, ESIC provides medical facilities and cash benefits to the beneficiaries through 15 branch offices, one DCBO (dispensary-cum-branch office), 27 dispensaries and empanelled 26 IMPs (insured medical practitioners) in addition to one model hospital at Guwahati.
In January this year, a new-born died at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital due to the alleged negligence of a doctor. Following this, an inquiry was set up by the Office of GMCH Superintendent. One Salma Begum, 27, alleged her child died due to negligence by on-duty doctors and staff.
