Updated on: 20 September,2022 08:13 AM IST  |  Mumbai Suraj Pandey | suraj.pandey@mid-day.com

Dereliction of duty by contractual doctor at Santacruz’s VN Desai Hospital not a one-off incident, say staffers at 260-bed BMC facility

V N Desai hospital at Santacruz East is among the 16 peripheral hospitals of BMC. Pic/Satej Shinde

Seven ICU patients at Santacruz’s VN Desai Hospital were left to their fate for hours on the night of September 16 after a contractual doctor left the premises to celebrate his birthday. This is not a one-off incident of shocking medical negligence, said the staff at the civic-run peripheral hospital. The nurses were so frustrated that their in-charge wrote a note about the missing doctors in their diary at 3.40 am on September 17.

The hospital, which has over 260 beds, is supposed to have two doctors, provided by an outsourcing agency, round the clock. The hospital employees said the doctors have absolutely no discipline. “They come and go at their own will. Often doctors leave much before their duty time is over and the ones in the next shift report late. It means there are no doctors at the hospital during that period,” said a staffer.

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While BMC’s hospitals with medical colleges have their own doctors to care for patients, its peripheral hospitals are managed by outsourced doctors. In the case of VN Desai Hospital, Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust provides MD and MBBS doctors in shifts. For this, the BMC pays about R42 lakh to the trust every 125 days. The birthday episode unfolded on September 16 when Dr Mandar Muley, who was to be present in the trauma intensive care unit (TICU), reported at 10 pm, an hour earlier than his scheduled time. 

The complaint about missing doctors at VN Desai Hospital on the night of Sept 16

A staffer, who requested anonymity, said, “Dr Muley announced that he would be stepping out at 12 am to cut his birthday cake and return soon after. He also informed that Dr Chetan, who was in the medical intensive care unit, would be available for TICU duty if required.” The nurses were stunned when the TICU’s sister requested Dr Chetan to come down saying Dr Muley had not returned. “Instead of coming to the trauma ICU, Dr Chetan also disappeared. This forced the nursing staff to lodge a complaint in their notebook,” said the source, adding that Dr Chetan returned at 4.35 am.

“This is inform to you that there is no Dr in TICU since 1 am. Total 7 pts [patients] in wd. So please do the needful [sic],” reads the message written at 3.40 am. The trauma ICU and medical ICU have 10 beds each. Hospital sources cited more such instances of dereliction of duty. On August 31, Dr Siddiqui, an outsourced MD doctor, left at 9.15 pm without a reliever. There were 6 patients in the medical ICU at the time.  

Calling the lapses a huge scam, a doctor from a peripheral hospital said, “The BMC wanted qualified MD doctors for ICU and emergency services, but they are absent many a time.” The city has 16 peripheral hospitals and Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust provides doctors to many of them. Sources said though there is a provision for a biometric attendance system, it has not happened.

“The BMC pays about Rs 1 crore a year to the trust for VN Desai Hospital but there is a provision of a minuscule penalty of R100 for doctors who report late. The terms and conditions of the contract with the trust must be revised. The doctors many a time leave without relievers, leaving patients on the ventilator unattended. This is criminal. There are many complaints on record. Still, their contracts get renewed every six months,” said a source.

An official from the trust, who requested not be identified, said, “There was a doctor available on duty. Many a time doctors come from other hospitals and get delayed due to long commutes. The hospital authorities mention late reporting in their complaint book but they don’t put on record when the doctors arrive on time.”

About the doctor’s birthday party at the cost of patients, Dr Vidya Thakur, chief medical superintendent of peripheral hospitals, told mid-day, “Yes, even I have got complaints about the same. It is a serious issue. I will speak to the medical superintendent of VN Desai Hospital and take action.” 

The negligence on the part of contractual doctors is not confined to the Santacruz hospital. A senior staffer from Dr Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivli said, “We also face the problem of unavailability of doctors. We sometimes penalise them as per the terms of the contract but that doesn’t bother them much. Their contract is ending next month and we will see to it that it doesn’t get renewed [due to poor service]. We have conveyed the same to senior authorities at BMC, too.” 

Rs 1cr Amount paid by BMC for the contractual doctors