Neyaz Elahi
Pattan, April 8, KNT: Police have been directed to lodge a formal case against the owner of a hospital and take strict action against a doctor for putting the lives of people at risk in North Kashmir’s Palhalan area of Baramulla district.
Sources told Kashmir News Trust that authorities Wednesday sealed Maqbool Memorial Hospital in Palhalan after reports surfaced that the 3rd deceased Covidd-19 patient had visited the hospital and mingled with patients and staff there.
Official sources said that amid lockdown and ban on private practice, Pediatrician Dr Ghulam Nabi Rather, posted at Sub-District Hospital, Kreeri, Baramulla was doing private practice at Maqbool Memorial Hospital in Palhalan, where scores of parents along with the babies used to visit on daily basis from past two weeks.
Sources added that parents with babies used to throng this hospital from different localities of Pattan town.
The irony is that the said Pediatrician instead of attending his official duties was minting money from the patients through ‘illegal’ private practice.
“This Doctor is a habitual offender and he always violates rules. I had asked him to explain his position thrice, but he didn’t bother to reply once,” Block Medical Officer Kreeri told KNT.
Chief Medical Officer, Baramulla, Dr Deeba Khan said that they have already withheld his salary.
Reports said when the Pediatrician Dr GN Rather was busy in his private practice at Maqbool Memorial Hospital, the 3rd deceased Covid-19 patient emerged in this hospital along with his two family members. The Covid-19 patient not only came into contact with children and parents but the staff as well.
“After the death of this Covid-19 patient, panic gripped among those who have come into contact with this patient in the hospital. After feeling pressure from the authorities, the owners of the hospital admitted the patient’s visit to hospital. CCTV Cameras in hospital show this Covid-19 patient talking to Receptionist, doctors and other patients. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the hospital has been sealed and converted into a quarantine centre. All the staff members of the hospital have been quarantined,” said sources.
Police and Civil Administration visited the hospital on Wednesday and sealed the hospital. Troopers were deployed in and around the hospital to stop people from coming or entering into the hospital. SSP Baramulla, Abdul Qayoom, who visited the spot, passed directions to SDPO to lodge an FIR against the negligent doctors for violating lock-down orders.
Pediatrician Dr GN Rather told KNT that he visited the private hospital once to change his uniform. He said, he was not seeing any patient or doing any private practice in the hospital, a claim refuted by parents who visited the hospital on daily basis. Meanwhile, Administration has started tracing those people who have come into contact with this 3rd Covid-19 deceased patient. (KNT)
