Lucknow Shocked as Ex-MP's Son Dies Due to 'Lack of Beds' in Top Govt Hosp | Spotlight on Medical Facilities

The medical facilities in Uttar Pradesh are back in spotlight after the death of the son of a former BJP MP at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow. The family has alleged that the death occurred due to “lack of timely assistance from staff, who cited unavailability of a bed in the emergency ward.”

The case has left the city shocked as the residents wondered the fate of a common man when so-called VIPs cannot be saved. An X (formerly Twitter) user said that all are facing the same issue in Lucknow’s PGI. Another user said that he has seen a doctor prescribe “multivitamin with zinc in acute liver failure” at PGI’s gastro ward.

Someone also wrote that Lucknow’s PGI is mostly for the bureaucracy and ministers, others are “referred to heaven”.

When & How Did Former BJP MP’s Son Die?

• Prasad Mishra, former MP from Banda Bhairon, arrived at the emergency ward of SGPGI with his son Prakash Mishra (40) around 11pm on Saturday. Prakash had suffered from a kidney ailment, and his condition was deteriorating.

• According to reports, the hospital staff on duty at the time allegedly refused admission to the lawmaker’s son, citing “unavailability of a bed”. Around an hour after arrival, Prakash died.

• The former MP then staged a ‘dharna’ at the hospital, drawing the attention of the authorities. The protest was called off after SGPGIMS director prof R K Dhiman reached the spot and assured him of action.

Action by Hospital, UP Government

• The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a high-level probe. It has also relieved the doctor, who it said on Monday was “prima facie found guilty”, from his services at the institute and also issued a warning to its director in connection with the matter.

• A report in Indian Express quoted its sources as saying that PGI has formed a three-member committee to look into the matter.

• UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya visited the former MP’s residence in Chitrakoot, and informed him that an inquiry has been ordered into the matter and action would be taken on the basis of the report.

• Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, who holds the health portfolio, cited the developments in the case, and wrote on X that a warning has also been issued to the PGI director to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future.

Is Lucknow’s PGI Only for VVIPs?

The view of an X user (mentioned above) about “common man being referred to heaven from PGI” is not his alone. This is the general perception in Lucknow.

Most residents believe that if you are not a VVIP then you cannot be admitted to the critical care medicine (CCM) unit of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS).

Elaborating on the lack of facilities at the government hospital, a report in Hindustan Times stated that the scarcity is not without reason as there are only 20 CCM beds in a hospital of 1,600 beds.

Most times, getting a patient admitted in critical care is a daunting task as most beds remain reserved for VVIPs. Also, the process of getting admission lacks transparency and depends on the whims and fancies of the head of department (HoD) and doctors of the institute, the report stated.

The report quoted a resident of Charbagh, Surendra Swaroop, as saying that he approached the department for admission of his father to CCM. He was told to register the name on the waiting list. Despite running from pillar to post for 21 days, he was not able to get his father admitted.

“My father was denied admission because he was not a VVIP. I was watching others who had good connections get admitted. Eventually, my father expired at a private nursing home,” Swaroop said.

The publication further quoted inside of the department as saying that for a good hospital, the CCM must house around 20% of its capacity. “Going by this figure, SGPGIMS must have around 320 CCM beds but we have only 20 beds for critically ill patients, which is just around 0.8 %,” an insider said.

PGI director Radha Krishna Dhiman was quoted: “There is an excess load of patients on PGI, on just 20 CCM beds everyone cannot be admitted. The remedy is to increase CCM beds in other hospitals of the state, including medical colleges of the state, other major medical centres, or other hospitals of state. Only selected patients should come to PGI who really need to be treated in a super-specialty hospital like PGI.”

Poor Medical Facilities in Uttar Pradesh

• Five years ago, in 2018, reports stated that 32 cataract patients were operated using a torch light for want of steady electricity supply at a state-run facility in Unnao.

• In the same year, 30 children died within a span of 48 hours at the government-run Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur. A report in FirstPost stated that the tragedy took deaths due to shoddy healthcare in the state to 1,304 in 2017.

• In 2017, ambulances were used to ferry cartons of liquor while Russian belly dancers were called to entertain guests at the alumni meet of doctors at the state-run Lala Lajpat Rai Medical College held on the college’s premises in Meerut.

• A five-year-old report of the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) stated that a third of the rural population in the state has been deprived of primary healthcare infrastructure.

Reasons for UP’s Poor Healthcare Record

• According to FirstPost, a combination of several factors, such as a shortage of healthcare professionals, increasing cost of healthcare, the mushrooming of private healthcare and a lack of planning.

• The report stated that in Uttar Pradesh, private health providers — including unrecognised doctors and quacks — meet 85 percent of medical needs.