Relatives of a patient, who died at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral (JDWNRH) on April 13 after being operated on the stomach, have written to the hospital’s president, alleging health professionals of negligence.

Bali Man Rana, 35, from Tshendagang gewog in Dagana had met with an accident where a wooden plank had hit his stomach at the work place. The deceased worked as a carpenter in Paro. 

Paro hospital had referred the patient to JDWNRH on April 12. The operation was carried out on the same day.

The deceased’s older brother Jit Bdr Rana said the patient was taken into the operation theatre around 2pm the same day and that the operation concluded around 6pm. He said that the patient died at 3.30am without seeing a doctor after the operation.

Requesting for a thorough investigation into the alleged negligence, Jit Bdr Rana stated to the hospital’s president that  no doctors were available after the operation despited the attendants’ requests. 

“I would like to request your good authority to look into the matter seriously since the patient expired due to the negligence of health workers,” he stated.

He told Kuensel that he had expected doctors to observe the patient’s condition. “However, no doctors came to see the patient after the operation despite our requests,” he said.

President of JDWNRH Lhab Dorji said he has forwarded the case to the quality management committee to investigate into the allegation. 

“They have to carry out a thorough investigation to see if there have been any lapses. I am yet to receive the committee’s report,” the president said. 

The deceased had first gone to the Paro hospital on April 11 after the accident. 

Jit Bdr Rana said that a health professional had prescribed some medicines, saying that there were no major injuries. The next morning, however, he suffered difficulty in passing stools and urine. 

“We could see that his stomach was bulging, and he could not pass urine and stool. We rushed him to the Paro hospital again, but the health official said that the patient was fine,” he said. 

However, Jit Bdr Rana said that the family members were not satisfied with the doctor’s assurance at Paro and requested the hospital to refer the patient to JDWNRH. 

He said that upon arrival at the JDWNRH, the health officials on duty had told the attendants that the patient needed to undergo a minor surgery.

The patient, he said, regained consciousness three to four hours after the surgery. However, he said that the patient’s condition deteriorated after that. 

He said that it was hard to find any health workers on duty when the patient’s situation deteriorated at the surgical ward. 

“We even asked other patients and their attendants if they knew about the whereabouts of doctors and nurses. We later found one of the health workers on duty in a room,” he said.

The patient, he said, had started to breathe his last when the health worker we found started calling his colleagues to attend to the patient. 

“They had told us that the operation would be a minor one. But the cut on his body was large,” he said.

He said that the Paro hospital could have overlooked the patient’s condition. “They should have kept my brother on observation,” he said. 

Staff Reporter