PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has demanded Lady Reading Hospital’s (LRH) board of governors to take an action upon the results of an investigation carried out against the mistreatment of a transgender, Alisha, who passed away due to gunshots in the last month.
According to the reports, “The inquiry has found the medical director, hospital director and professors of the surgery and orthopedic wards of committing criminal negligence, recommending strict action against them.”
They said that government wanted the LRH board of governors to put the recommendations of the inquiry into operation. Cases against them in court would be submitted for criminal carelessness, said sources in the report recently submitted to health department.
The report also explained that the patient could have been saved if an urgent operation would have been done. The five-member inquiry committee, formed by the government to look into the matter, has charged criminal cases against the top officials to avoid such tragedies in future.
The patient, Alisha, who came to the hospital with serious injuries in different parts of the body, wasn’t admitted as an emergency case which led to heavy bleeding causing her death, said the report. “The health department can terminate them from services after lodging criminal cases in the court,” it further says.
Serious legal action has been taken against the officials and professors to stop such unfortunate incidents in future.
The acting medical director of LRH gave his explanations before the panel that he was on leave when the incident occurred and the hospital director should be held accountable, who was obliged to make sure that the patient’s treatment was to be treated effectively. Yet, the committee involved both of them in the case.
The report also advises filing FIR against the top officials of the hospital. The patient was first received at the accident and emergency department (A&ED) from where the 25-year-old transgender was taken to the surgical ward where the medical officer didn’t show any concern to call senior registrar and didn’t to performed an immediate operation, failing to do the initial process to save the life, according to reports.
There was no attendant or doctor at the accident and emergency department. The patient was sent to the orthopedic ward, after the hospital staff’s failure to provide a bed to the Alisha either in male or female ward.
On May 24, the patient was again checked up by doctors on the call of the orthopedic ward. The patient was operated in the end but expired early next day.
The government abandoned the first report for being not thorough and formed another committee but it is not in a state to take action against the hospital staff owing to enforcement of Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Law, 2015 after which LRH is an independent hospital free from government’s hold.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has requested Lady Reading Hospital’s (LRH) Board of Governors to act upon the investigation of an inquiry carried out against the mistreatment of a transgender person, Alisha, who died of gunshots, on May 26.
