Situation returning to normal at Thane civic hospital after mob scare

Situation was returning to normal at a civic-run hospital in Maharashtra’s Thane city on Friday, hours after a mob gathered there and questioned the authorities alleging the death of five persons in a day due to “negligence”, officials said.

Heavy deployment of police was put in place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, where the incident took place late Thursday night. The hospital authorities, however, denied the charge saying that only one patient died there during the day as against the allegation of five fatalities.

By afternoon, the deployment of policemen was also reduced since the mob had dispersed, said an official.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad also visited the hospital and alleged the five patients died due to negligence and also claimed that the hospital pretends to treat patients even after their death to make money.

Later in the day, he demanded that the state government take over the hospital from the Thane civic body for better management.

“A group of around hundred people gathered at the civic-run hospital around 10.30 pm on Thursday. They questioned the hospital authorities over the death of patients accusing them of negligence. No untoward incident occurred,” a personnel of Thane police control room told PTI.

After the incident, heavy deployment of police was put in place at the hospital, he said.

NCP leader Awhad issued a statement on Friday morning, in which he alleged, "As many as five persons died at the hospital in a single day (on Thursday) due to the negligence of the medical staff. While on the one hand, patients are not being admitted to the hospital on the pretext of paucity of beds, the deceased ones are kept in the ICU for hours."

Writing about it on X, formerly known as Twitter, Awhad said, "One woman called me saying that her husband was not receiving proper medical treatment at the hospital. When I went there, I came to know that her husband was being treated in the general ward. I was then informed that he has been shifted to the ICU."

"When I went to the ICU, I was told that the patient had already died, but doctors and the hospital administration was treating him for five hours. The woman was not informed about her husband's death. When I questioned the doctors about it, they could not answer," he said.

Awhad alleged that the hospital run by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) was looting patients by issuing inflated bills. The hospital is making money by falsely treating patients even after their death, he claimed.

When contacted, TMC's Additional Municipal Commissioner in-charge of medical services Sandeep Malvi told PTI that five patients did not die at the hospital in a single day.

"One of the patients undergoing treatment at the hospital was very serious. He died during treatment. Although his relatives did not question the hospital, others blamed the medical staff and made it a big issue," he said.

The hospital takes utmost care of the patients and ensures that each and every patient is attended to properly, he said.

"The load at the hospital has increased manifold. The ICU which has a capacity of 50 patients, handles more than 70 patients," Malvi said.

In a recent meeting presided over by Thane District Guardian Minister Shamburaj Desai, MLA Sanjay Kelkar took up the issue of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, saying that the administration needs to improve its situation, failing which the situation might slip out of hand.

Addressing a press conference later in the day, Awhad reiterated his demand that the hospital, being managed by the TMC be handed over to the state government for better management.

Awhad said patients are suffering at the Kalwa hospital as it has become a mess. The legislator said patients are not attended to or admitted to the hospital for a long time, while bodies are lying on beds for hours.

He also claimed that patients are forced to sit or lie down on the floor and surgeries are getting delayed in the hospital. Cleanliness is a big worry, he said.

The former minister said he had earlier given a proposal to hand over the hospital to the state government for better management but that did not happen.

Awhad said he would not blame the present Thane civic chief for the poor condition of the hospital and it is the result of years of negligence.

Awhad said the transport and health infrastructure of Thane city is in bad shape.

He said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is from Thane, must address these issues.