Blunder in death certificate

Letter March 25, 2016
A hasty doctor at Liaquat National Hospital put wrong name on the death certificate without double-checking

KARACHI: My father passed away last month of cardiopulmonary arrest at Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. While making his death certificate, the hasty ER doctor asked my brother, the name of the father of the deceased. Naturally, in a shock of losing his father, he submitted a name that was incorrect. Without double-checking, the name was put on the death certificate. Thinking that the correction won’t be a big deal, I headed back to the Liaquat National Hospital’s emergency room with the original death certificate and my father’s original CNIC. I talked to the ER doctor on duty, who then asked me to meet the coordinator. The coordinator, even after seeing the original CNIC of my dad, stated that it was, in fact, a big issue and referred me to someone in the hospital’s HIMS department. Upon talking to the HIMS people, I learned they had not yet received my father’s file and since it was still in the billing process, they could do nothing as regards the necessary corrections. I was also told that I might have to pay several visits to get the error rectified, and instead of a new, corrected death certificate, I would be given only a supporting document. When I asked them why I had to suffer for a blunder the hospital had made, they had no answer. I can only wonder how many more visits I’ll have to pay the hospital to get a simple correction made. I request the authorities concerned to take notice of the matter.

Aqeel Ahmed

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2016.

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