An alarming series of incidents at Mumbai's Cooper Hospital has exposed critical patient safety concerns, with 26 registered cases of admitted patients falling from their beds in just three months. This shocking data, revealed through an RTI application filed by activist Chetan Kothari, has prompted an official inquiry and raised serious questions about hospital protocols.
A Tragic Pattern of Negligence
The most recent and tragic case involved 80-year-old Sonbai Chavan, who fell from her bed in the middle of the night on a Sunday. The elderly patient tragically passed away the very next day due to cardiac failure. This incident was not isolated but part of a disturbing trend recorded at the Juhu police station between July and September.
Hospital officials, when confronted, offered explanations that highlight systemic issues. They stated that while beds are equipped with safety railings, some patients remove them due to discomfort. A more concerning revelation pointed to severe overcrowding during the monsoon season, where the practice of adjusting two patients on a single bed was cited as a contributing factor.
Beyond Bed Falls: A Bathroom Tragedy
The patient safety crisis at Cooper Hospital extends beyond falls from beds. In the early hours of November 17, a 52-year-old patient slipped inside a bathroom during the night, sustaining severe head injuries. The situation was exacerbated by a critical delay; it took approximately two hours for him to receive medical treatment. He passed away on the same day.
His post-mortem report delivered a damning verdict, stating the cause of death as blunt force craniocerebral trauma and labelling it as unnatural. This incident further underscores the lack of adequate monitoring and timely intervention for vulnerable patients.
Administrative Chaos and Pending Inquiry
In response to the growing outcry, the BMC administration has initiated an inquiry into these incidents. However, the hospital is simultaneously grappling with administrative instability. The facility was supposed to have appointed another acting dean by last week, which would have been its second in a few months. This need for leadership was highlighted after an attack on three on-duty doctors in the casualty department. Despite the urgency, no such appointment has been made.
Hospital authorities have acknowledged the challenges, emphasizing that ward nurses and attendants need to be extremely vigilant. However, they also admitted the practical difficulty in monitoring every patient continuously, a task made nearly impossible by understaffing and overcrowding.
