2 hospitals under fire for ‘denying care’ to Noida techie after crash

Two private hospitals in Badshahpur are under fire for allegedly refusing emergency treatment to 28-year-old Noida techie Shomita Singh, who succumbed to her injuries following a motorcycle accident near the Leopard Trail on Sunday. Haryana health officials said Thursday that both hospitals will soon be served notices for medical negligence and violation of emergency care protocols.

Singh, an employee of Capgemini in Noida, was on a bike ride from Sector 135 in Noida to Leopard Trail along with a group of women riders when a car collided with her at a hairpin bend near Pandala village between 9am and 9.30am on Sunday.

The accident resulted in a critical internal brain injury, according to family members. Her fellow riders first rushed her to Sparsh Hospital in Sector 66 on the Badshahpur-Sohna road at a time yet to be ascertained through inquiry. “The doctors, without even beginning treatment, asked her to be taken elsewhere, citing her critical condition,” alleged her brother-in-law, Amit Mishra. The group then took her to Akcropolis Hospital near Vatika Chowk in Sector 69 at a similarly unconfirmed time, where she was again refused admission and referred to the civil hospital in Sector 10.

“She was finally being taken to the civil hospital, but by the time the ambulance reached there, she had died,” Mishra said. “More than one hour was wasted while she remained in critical condition,” he alleged.

Dr Alka Singh, chief medical officer, Gurugram, said they will soon crack down on Sparsh Hospital and Akcropolis Hospital. “This is prima facie true that both the hospitals refused to give the accident victim emergency treatment or first aid. We will serve them notices soon. Stern action will be taken,” she added.

When contacted, an Akropolis Hospital official initially claimed it was the riding group who refused treatment for her. “We give treatment to everyone in case of emergency, but since the group refused, the patient’s name was not entered,” the official said, declining to share contacts of senior hospital officials, citing they were in a meeting.

At Sparsh Hospital, officials stated that the owner was inside the operation theatre and no one else could comment.

Health department officials called the refusal of treatment a “grave offence”. “No hospital can deny admission to a road accident victim or anyone in case of emergency. In fact, if a case of emergency arises, then even consent of attendants is not required to start treatment for saving life. Even if better treatment is required at another centre, primary stabilisation is mandatory before a referral is made,” said a senior official from the health department.

Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said that if requested by health authorities, police will retrieve CCTV footage from both hospitals to determine when Singh was brought in and how long she was made to wait before being turned away.

Police have also launched a separate probe into the Noida-based women-centric bike training academy that Singh was part of, following allegations of negligence by her family.

Dr Deepak Mathur, forensic wing in charge of Gurugram Civil Hospital, said the deceased suffered a deep internal brain injury that resulted in internal bleeding and caused her death.

The car driver, identified as Jai Yadav, was arrested and booked under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.