Elderly COVID-19 patient tied to bed at hospital, Cong MP demands Kerala Health Min should order enquiry

Congress MP TN Prathapan has demanded Health Minister KK Shailaja to order an enquiry into an incident at Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital, where an elderly COVID-19 patient was allegedly tied to a bed.

In a letter to the Health Minister, Prathapan said that 67-year-old COVID-19 patient, Kunjubheevi, was shifted to the medical college hospital from a first-line treatment centre after her condition deteriorated and instead of using side rails, she was tied to the bed.

The incident came to light after a patient made a video of the elderly woman lying on the floor with her hands tied after falling off from the bed.

The patient's grandson Farshadh VA has taken up the matter with the District Medical Officer (DMO) and demanded strict action against those responsible for the incident.

"My grandmother Kunjubheevi was admitted to Medical College Thrissur on October 20, 2020, from Kuttannalloor Covid centre... No proper safety measures were taken by the hospital and nursing staff. The patient was kept in a bed without any side rails. Instead of using arm restraints she was tied with cotton strings. She fell from the bed and suffered a head injury and blood loss. We have photos and videos as evidence," he stated in the complaint to the DMO.

Prathapan in his letter to Health Minister also alleged that counselling services to reduce the mental stress of COVID-19 patients were not available at the COVID wards of the medical college.

This comes after the Congress demanding a judicial probe into medical negligence and ill-treatment meted out to COVID-19 patents in COVID hospitals in the state.

Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that Kerala was witnessing a string of cases of medical negligence and the government was silencing people who raised their voices.

"Kerala is witnessing a string of cases of medical negligence, and what is even more shocking is that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is trying to hide this from the general public and silencing people who raise their voice against this. The Kalamassery Medical College saw the death of a patient named Harris solely because his tube was not connected to a ventilator," he alleged.

( With inputs from ANI )