Elderly woman dies after hospitals deny admission

Kolkata: An elderly woman who was Covid positive died in Howrah on Monday. The family members of the victim alleged that the elderly woman was denied admission by the two hospitals in the district.

The woman, identified as Banarani Kundu, a resident of Sadar Bakshi Lane in Howrah, started complained about respiratory distress, abdominal pain and other symptoms a few days ago. On last Friday her health deteriorated and the family members took the victim to a private hospital in Howrah. She had undergone swab tests and the report came as positive on Sunday. After the report arrived, the hospital authorities asked the family members to shift the patient to a Covid hospital.

The victim's family members claimed that they took the patient to Jaiswal Hospital in Howrah. It was alleged that the hospital did not provide any health services to the patient. The woman was kept unattended in the ambulance outside the hospital building for nearly two hours. The family members were allegedly asked by the hospital to call at the control room at Swasthya Bhavan. The family members of the deceased also claimed that they failed to establish contacts with Swasthya Bhavan. They took the patient to another private hospital in Golabari. The doctors at the hospital pronounced her dead. The family members then took the deceased to the private hospital where she was treated earlier to get the death certificate. Employees from the health department contacted the deceased's family members and the body was collected from the hospital.

The woman's body was cremated as per the guidelines of the health department. The family members alleged that the woman would have survived if she was not denied treatment by the two hospitals.