Provision of an isolation ward for infectious and destitute patients in the central ICU of the SCB Medical College Hospital here is not able to come up even as the Orissa High Court had given a direction for it more than six months ago.
Following the death of a 60-year-old Italian tourist in the hospital in December, 2012 due to alleged negligence in treatment and care and upon a PIl to this effect, the HC on March this year had directed the State Government to have the isolation ward for destitute patients to be named after the Italian Sebastiano Rosario Contiguglia.
The court in the same order had asked the State Government to file a compliance report after ensuring that NGOs are placed in the hospital to take care of the destitute patients and the patients are rehabilitated properly at rehabilitation centres after treatment.
After six months of the HC order, the State Government recently submitted an affidavit to this effect. Dissatisfied with the content of the affidavit, a Division Bench comprising Justice Indrajit Mahanti and Justice DP Choudhury rejected the same terming it “evasive”.
The Bench asked the Government to file a fresh affidavit stating in it about the action taken for treatment and rehabilitation of destitute patients and the functioning of the newly constructed central ICU in the SCB Hospital with posting of doctors and other staff as per the MCI norms.
State Health Secretary Arti Ahuja in her affidavit had stated that civil work including electrification and air-conditioning work for the 30-bedded Central ICU in the Cuttack hospital had been completed and an amount of Rs 7.3 crore had been sanctioned for procurement of equipment by the State Medical Corporation.