DMH doc resigns citing pressure as a result of public outcry; probe panel holds hospital guilty

PUNE: A week after the death of Tanisha Bhise, after she was denied emergency treatment at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital (DMH), Pune, Dr Sushrut Ghaisas, consulting gynaecologist of the hospital resigned from his post. In his resignation letter Dr Ghaisas stated the reason behind the move was intense public anger, social media backlash and threat calls following Bhise’s death.

This was corroborated by the hospital’s medical director Dr Dhananjay Kelkar, who underlined that Dr Ghaisas “has been under tremendous mental pressure due to public outrage” and that he fears “this will impact his ability to treat other patients”. He however added that Dr Ghaisas will continue treating his existing patients for the next two to three days to ensure continuity of care, and then step down.

At a press conference held at the hospital on Monday, Dr Kelkar denied that the hospital had any policy of charging a ₹10 lakh deposit. “There is no system in our hospital where doctors are supposed to ask for deposits. I don’t know what came over the doctor that day, but he did put down the amount in a box on the admission form,” he said. He then contradicted his own statement saying on the day of the incident, when he received a call from the patient’s husband, “I told him to pay ₹2 lakh to ₹2.5 lakh as deposit and assured him that the administration would honour my word”.

When the members of the press brought out the contradiction in his statements, he exited the conference.

Meanwhile, the committee appointed by the state public health department probing Bhise’s death has held the hospital guilty of violating norms that prohibit charitable hospitals from demanding advance payments in emergency cases. The four-member panel, headed by joint director of state health department Dr Radhakishan Pawar, discussed its findings with Pune police on Monday.

“As per the scheme for charitable hospitals under the Bombay Public Trust Act, in an emergency, the patient must be admitted immediately and provided life-saving treatment until stabilised,” the report stated, noting that DMH had violated this rule.

The report, which HT has seen, recommended action against the hospital by the charity commissioner. A separate investigation by the maternal death review committee is ongoing, apart from a parallel probe by a committee appointed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, that will submit its findings soon.