Doctors leave even their regular patients in the lurch.
The Father in Law of one of our members of indjournals passed away of old age at home in Vashi.
The member required a doctor to certify the death such that funeral arrangements could take place. Strangely no doctor was willing to come home to give the Death certificate.
Even the doctor who was treating this patient had to be persuaded to come and it took much persuasion for him to agree.
The member then went to NMC hospital to get a letter addressed to that particular doctor to issue a death certificate. This doctor did not even have a copy of Form 4A required to certify the death!
The doctor made the member go to PKC Hospital at Vashi and surprisingly they too did not have this form 4A and no help was forthcoming. After waiting for two hours, the member was given the form 4 with A written in pen (one being a hospital death form other being a GP issued death form).
Armed with this form the member and his wife, the daughter of the deceased, went back to the doctor who filled the form.
In between our member spoke with a person in the police seeking help. He was told, everything will be done, start to finish, all it will take is Rs 3500/- and everything will be arranged, certificate, ambulance, etc. etc. But our member refused to go that path and finally got the certificate for free.
Later the family went to Turbhe Crematorium to perform the last rites. At the crematorium they saw a crowd of 50 people who had come along with one body. Currently there is a restriction of twenty people for such an event.
The staff at the crematorium was requesting those gathered to go out of the crematorium or else they would be in trouble.
After much persuasion they agreed.
Later, one ambulance came with a dead Covid patient. That body was cremated nearby the funeral pyre next to our members father in law.
There was no proper precautions taken nor any protection given to the two person who were arranging for the cremation. Concerned, our member asked the person if any extra incentives or medical facilities are given to them for handling these Covid bodies, they said nothing is given. They also said that it is affecting their health because each day at least 4 to 5 bodies of Covid patients are cremated there.
Our member was totally totally surprised. Why is Government not looking at these aspects as these people are also important. Just because they are at lower strata of society does not mean that the government can ignore their concerns.
We at indjournals request the government to take note of this and make fit and proper arrangement for disposal of Covid affected patients and provide necessary gear for protecting the workers who are often performing the last rites even when families don’t turn up with Covid Patient bodies.