SHC seeks report over ‘neglected’ patients

Sindh High Court says no patient should die due to lack of treatment in absence of Covid-19 test report

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought on Tuesday a detailed report from the relevant parties in a plea pertaining to alleged negligence towards patients suffering from ailments other than coronavirus.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Yousuf Sayeed, was hearing the case.

The petitioner maintained that private and government hospitals were asking patients for coronavirus test reports before attending to them in the emergency ward, adding that they were refusing to admit patients who had not been tested for the virus.

He claimed that patients with cardiac emergencies and those suffering from other critical conditions often passed away by the time their test reports were received.

The plea moved the court to take action against doctors neglecting other patients while also ordering hospitals to attend to sick patients and open their outpatient departments (OPDs).

The court remarked that patients should be able to receive treatment at all government and private hospitals across the province no matter the circumstances.

"OPDs and emergency wards should not be closed in any hospital. A random patient must not die because they could not receive treatment [without the coronavirus test report] or be labelled as having died due to coronavirus," remarked Justice Mazhar.

He inquired whether the medical personnel at the private and government hospitals were screened for coronavirus, upon which Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) executive director Dr Seemin Jamali stated that the healthcare workers at JPMC were screened almost daily.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Health Care Commission's acting chief executive officer informed the court that a notification had been issued to all hospitals, directing them to keep their OPDs and emergency wards open.

He added that 12 private and six government hospitals had been permitted to offer coronavirus tests and all hospitals were allowed to function following the standard operating procedures.

The counsel representing private hospitals maintained that the coronavirus screening tests were being offered for Rs5,000 to Rs7,000 at the private health facilities.

Eight government and private hospitals submitted their reports in the court during the session.

According to the reports, the OPDs at JPMC, Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, South City Hospital and others had been reopened. The court sought further details from the parties on June 2.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2020.