The death of a patient at Neyyattinkara hospital points to systemic errors

Even as the health minister sought a detailed report from the additional director of health services and the district medical officer on the incident at the Neyyattinkara General Hospital on Thursday evening where a patient with chest pain collapsed and died, system errors could have led to delays in care, it pointed out. The family of Rajesh Kumar, 53, who collapsed and died, alleged that security personnel made the patient wait in a queue to see a doctor, thereby delaying treatment.

However, hospital officials say the patient was examined by an emergency physician and an EKG was performed. When he saw the EKG results, he was given a shock dose of the drug so he could be quickly referred to the medical school for further care, before which the patient collapsed.

On Friday, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan issued a statement that the security personnel at the Neyyattinkara General Hospital, who had been accused by the family of a patient who collapsed and died at the hospital, had been relieved of duty. He said that soon after the incident, an expert committee comprising District Medical Officer Bindu Mohan, Additional Director of Health Services E. Rajendran and K. Sandeep and also doctors from the General Hospital and Medical College visited the hospital. Further action will be taken based on the inquiry report, he said

Lack of sorting system

According to sources, there were apparent delays in accessing care because the injured were overcrowded as always and no triage system was in place to allow a doctor to immediately see people who really needed emergency care. “Our so-called emergency wings in public hospitals are overcrowded with patients with fever and flu who should ideally be attending morning OP clinics. Even people who need diabetic wound dressings or stitches removed come to the casualty in the evening. Only 30% of cases coming to patient wings are true medical emergencies, but in the absence of a triage system there can be delays.

The Kerala Government Medical Association (KGMOA) said most hospitals had only one injured doctor who had to deal with minor ailments, medical emergencies and medico-legal cases. She said it was a long-standing demand of KGMOA that at least two paramedics should be sent to the emergency department of major hospitals in one shift and that a triage system be put in place to manage cases well.

The KGMOA demanded that the government immediately implement a triage system in major public hospitals with adequate infrastructure and other trained personnel to prevent accidents.

Published – 10 Jul 2026 20:05 IST