Civil hospital worse than a dungeon: Gujarat High Court

Ahmedabad/ New Delhi: Human life is precious and cannot be wasted, the Gujarat High Court said on Saturday, pulling up the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, one of the largest in the country, for its handling of COVID-19 cases and patients. Labeling the hospital that has recorded over 350 COVID-19 deaths a "dungeon", the court pointed out that "poor and helpless patients had no option" but to rely on it during this medical crisis.

"As we said earlier that the Civil Hospital is meant to treat the patients. However, it appears that as on date, it is as good as dungeon. May be even worse than a dungeon. Unfortunately, the poor and helpless patients have no option," the order read.The Civil Hospital has reported the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state, the bench observed.

"If we calculate (the) weekly deaths, the Civil Hospital still contributes to (the) highest (number of) deaths during the last eight weeks. It is very distressing to note that most of the patients in the Civil Hospital are dying after four days or more of the treatment. This indicates complete lack of critical care," it said. Gujarat has reported over 13,000 COVID-19 cases and 829 deaths so far - the third-highest state tally after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Ahmedabad alone has more than 10,000 cases, with 277 fresh incidences of the infection detected Saturday. The city has reported 669 deaths linked to the virus.In its order, the court also slammed the state's Health Minister Nitinbhai Ratilal Patel, seeking a report from Vijay Rupani-led state government."We are very sorry to state that the Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, as on date, appears to be in an extremely bad shape. Ordinarily, the citizens hailing from a poor strata of society are being treated at the Civil Hospital.