During delivery: Patient complains of being maltreated at Polyclinic

Officials confirm they suspended complainant’s sister who works at the facility

ISLAMABAD: A female patient has complained to the Federal Ombudsman about the alleged mistreatment she and her sister — who works at the facility — suffered at the hands of staff working at the gynaecology department of the Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic) in the capital.

In an application to the ombudsman’s office, the patient claimed that she was not properly treated by the gynaecology staff when she went to the hospital to deliver a baby. When she and her sister, who was a low-grade staffer — Naib Qasid (peon) at Polyclinic, complained about the treatment meted out to them and raised their voice, the hospital’s administration expelled her from her job.

Noshi Safdar complained to the ombudsman that she was pregnant. When her condition worsened on September 11, her sister rushed her to the outpatient department for a check-up. But doctors there refused to check her, she claimed in her application.

She added that she had been admitted to the maternity ward of the hospital but doctors did not check patients and only took a round of the ward and then vanished.

Instead of checking her, doctors filed into the conference room, the complainant said. Safdar said that her sister chased the doctors there to request a check-up. But the quest ended in a scuffle between the doctors and her sister.

The complainant’s sister claimed that doctors then allegedly shut down services at the outpatient department in protest and refused to treat Safdar, who had fallen unconscious by that time.

“They not only misbehaved with the attendants but also mistreated the patient as well. After profuse requests, they operated on the patient to deliver a baby in a hurry and discharged her when she was not even stable,” Safdar’s sister said, alleging that a case for normal delivering had been converted into one of caesarean-section surgery

Safdar alleged that young doctors, in  connivance with the administration, had her sister suspended. Poor patients are not treated well and are misbehaved with by the head of the department and other staffers. If an employee complains, they are punished, Safdar claimed

The complainant claimed that she had lodged a complaint against maltreatment with the hospital administration but to no avail. Meanwhile, Polyclinic Spokesperson Dr Sharif Astori denied all allegations of mistreatment.

He stated that the patient was treated well and that doctors had managed her delivery.

Confirming that Safdar’s sister had been suspended by the hospital’s administration, Dr Astori explained that the reason for the suspension was not an act of revenge on part of the hospital. Rather, he said that the Naib Qasid had been suspended for creating a ruckus in the hospital, adding that she had a history of creating such issues in the hospital.

An inquiry has also been initiated into the allegations, he said, adding that further action will be taken against those responsible once the inquiry is complete.

Mistreatment or lack of treatment altogether is a common complaint by expecting mothers who visit Polyclinic in emergencies.

Last year, a man had lodged a complaint after his wife lost their child owing to labour complications arising out of the hospital allegedly refused to treat the woman.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2018.