Negligence Alleged at Karnali Province Hospital After Patient's X-ray Mishap

Surkhet. Hira, the 18-year-old daughter of Maniram Adhikari of Birendranagar Municipality-1, was seriously injured after falling from a mango tree on Sunday evening. She suffered fractures in various parts of her body.

Maniram and relatives admitted Hira to the provincial hospital's emergency room around 9:30 PM. Treatment began.

The doctor asked them to get an X-ray. According to Maniram, the doctor initially tried to set the bone and then advised another X-ray. They went to the X-ray room.

'An X-ray usually takes 5-7 minutes, but the staff there took more than an hour,' Maniram told Ratopati. 'There were no other patients besides us. Later, we found out that the person doing the X-ray inside was drunk.'

According to Maniram, the X-ray department staff negligently prepared a different report. He said that during the third X-ray, the doctor had sent them to get an X-ray of the 'elbow' and 'shoulder'. They took an X-ray of the leg joint and sent it. 'We didn't know, we showed that report to the doctor, and the doctor got angry at us,' he said. 'Which X-ray did I send you to get, and what did you bring back?'

After that, Maniram himself took the doctor to the X-ray room. He further said, 'When we went there, the staff was found to be drunk. Disregarding the patient's sensitivity, my daughter's arm was twisted further, and the bone was seen to have returned to its original position.'

He also complained that the X-ray report was handed over to him without a cover.

'When I asked for the cover for the serious report, I was threatened, 'If you didn't take it earlier, why are you asking now?'' he complained. 'Such negligence also happens in such a big hospital. There are limits to negligence, aren't there?' He said that the doctor then urged Maniram to complain to the hospital administration, and he had called Anita Gyawali, the hospital's information officer, at night to report the grievance.

Hospital Says: Employee Not on Duty Was Drunk

The hospital administration, however, stated that the negligence was due to the misconduct of an employee who was not on duty. After the patient's father Maniram's complaint, the hospital's information officer Anita Gyawali went to the hospital on Monday and inquired. CCTV footage was also reviewed.

According to her, the employee on duty initially performed the patient's X-ray and sent them. Then the doctor in the emergency room asked for an X-ray of another part and sent them for further examination. 'The second time, only the additional part needed to be X-rayed,' Gyawali told Ratopati. 'But the employee on duty at that time had gone to another ward. At that exact time, another hospital employee, who was not on duty that day, happened to arrive there.'

She stated that the person who arrived there was a hospital employee but was not on duty. However, Gyawali confirmed that the person had consumed alcohol. She said that the report was not as the parents claimed, with one part and another limb being X-rayed. According to her, the on-duty employee took advantage of the absence and the intoxicated employee entered the X-ray room. He printed the X-ray of the previously done and the newly added parts all at once.

'This is the main reason for the report duplication,' she said.

According to her, an explanation has been sought as to why the off-duty employee consumed alcohol and came to the office. Only one employee is on duty in the X-ray department at the hospital at night. 'The main question is why the off-duty employee entered there after consuming alcohol,' Gyawali said. 'We have taken this seriously. He has been asked for an explanation, and we are sending official information about this to the relevant ministry as well.'

However, patient Hira's father, Maniram, said that the hospital administration was trying to protect its employees' shortcomings. He questioned, 'What was the administration doing while an outsider came and operated the hospital's X-ray machine? For us, whoever works inside is the employee.'

According to him, they were not wearing uniforms, nor were they wearing identification cards. 'One with a beard and another person played with my daughter's body,' he added. He also denied the claim that the report was not of a different limb and that the intoxicated person printed everything at once.

'If it was just a printing problem, why would the doctor scold me? The doctor himself went inside and asked the staff, 'I asked for one part, why did you give another part?'' Maniram said. 'I have the voice recording of this too.'

Karnali Province Hospital, Surkhet, is considered a model hospital in the country. However, questions have always been raised about its services. Previously, when providing a urine test sample, employees had also produced a stool report. Regarding this matter, Minister of Social Development, Ghanshyam Bhandari, has already directed an investigation into the incident.

Bhandari's secretariat said, 'The hospital chief, Dr. Ganesh Thapa, has been asked to conduct the necessary investigation.'