Telangana: Rodents feed on unconscious patient at Warangal hospital

WARANGAL: Rodents nibbled away at the fingers and toes of a 42-year-old unconscious man, lying in what should have been the most sanitised part of the state-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital at Warangal - the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU).The incident came to light on Thursday after the patient's brother spoke to reporters about the appalling conditions in the RICU. Health minister Harish Rao ordered an inquiry into the incident and the hospital superintendent was transferred out.P Srinivas, a goldsmith from Bheemaram in Hanumakonda, was admitted to the RICU on March 26 with kidney and liver-related ailments. On March 27, his brother Srikanth visited him and noticed blood on the bed sheet."While sitting next to my brother's bed, I dozed off briefly in the night. When I woke up, I was shocked to see blood everywhere on the bed. My brother's heels and left hand fingers had been nibbled at by rodents. He was unconscious and the medical staff treated the wounds only after I alerted them about the injuries," Srikanth said.Srikanth initially confronted hospital superintendent B Srinivasa Rao about the condition in which his brother and other patients had been kept in the RICU. He also complained about the negligent attitude of the staff about the presence of rodents and unhygeinic conditions. Hospital chief replaced Unhappy with the superintendent's response, Srikanth approached local reporters on Thursday morning.Rao admitted that rodents were a nuisance in the RICU as the facility was in an old building adjacent to the kitchen. "We will take steps to prevent such the incidents," the superintendent had said before he was transferred.Later in the evening, the state government replaced Rao with former superintendent Dr Chandrasekhar. Two doctors from the hospital have also been suspended for dereliction of duty.