Kozhikode MCH staff form ‘human chain’ against move to denigrate institution

Staff at Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode form human chain to defend against allegations of medical negligence.

A section of staff from the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, on Monday formed a ‘human chain’ outside its premises, alleging a move to denigrate the institution in the wake of recent incidents of medical negligence cases.

Those who attended the event, including doctors, nurses, non-medical staff, and students from the medical college, claimed that some people with vested interests had been trying to cast the six-decade-old hospital in bad light. They pointed out that compared with the services rendered by the hospital and the medical college to the common people of the Malabar region all these years, the alleged medical lapses had been very few. Human errors were being blown out of proportions, they said. The staff alleged that there had been deliberate attempts by the right-wing forces and a section of the media to create a negative image about the hospital.

The event follows back-to-back incidents where the hospital staff had been accused of being negligent in their work. K.K. Harshina, a native of Adivaram, had alleged that a surgical instrument was left behind in her abdomen when she was admitted to the hospital for her delivery in 2017. It took around five years before the instrument was removed through another procedure.

A woman patient admitted to the intensive care unit after a surgery was allegedly sexually assaulted by a hospital staff in March 2023. On May 16, the staff of the Institute of Maternal and Child Health reportedly operated upon the tongue of a four-year-old child instead of removing her additional sixth finger.

Meanwhile, another section of the staff highlighted the shortage of nurses and doctors in the institution, because of which there had been additional burden on those on the rolls.