A serious incident of negligence involving a hospital staffer has come to light at a prominent medical college in Uttar Pradesh. A ward boy was summarily dismissed from service after he allegedly mistook a bottle of spirit for water while refilling a critical medical device meant for a young child.
Spirit Nearly Reaches Child's Nebuliser
The alarming event occurred at the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial (LLRM) Medical College in Meerut. The staffer, identified as 30-year-old Avinash Singh, was tasked with refilling the oxygen chamber of a nebuliser for a four-year-old boy undergoing treatment. In a dangerous error, he reportedly picked up spirit instead of distilled water.
Fortunately, the mistake was noticed by other alert staff members before the spirit could reach the child through the device, thereby averting a potential medical disaster. A nebuliser converts liquid medication into a fine mist for inhalation, and introducing spirit could have caused severe respiratory tract injury or poisoning.
A History of Negligence and Intoxication
Speaking to the media on Saturday, the college principal, Dr. R C Gupta, revealed shocking details about the dismissed employee. Gupta stated that Avinash Singh was inebriated at the time of the incident and had a known history of reporting for duty under the influence of alcohol.
"He was removed immediately after the matter came to my notice," Principal Gupta asserted. He further added that instructions have been issued to all ward in-charges and department heads to take strict action against staff found engaging in such irresponsible behaviour.
Another ward boy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, shed more light on Singh's problematic record. He claimed that Singh had been removed twice earlier by the ward in-charge for negligent work, but managed to return each time as the principal was allegedly unaware of the previous actions.
Incident Sparks Altercation, No Police Complaint Filed
The situation escalated further when Avinash Singh reportedly got into a verbal spat with the parents of the four-year-old child following the discovery of his mistake. Hospital staff had to intervene and physically take him away from the scene to defuse the confrontation.
Despite the gravity of the error and the ensuing argument, no police case was registered. The parents of the child, for reasons not disclosed, chose not to file a formal complaint with the authorities.
A Pattern of Issues with Outsourced Staff
This is notably the second incident involving misconduct by outsourced staff at the medical college within a single week. Just last week, the institution terminated two female ward attendants and a ward boy after they were caught on CCTV assaulting a deaf and mute woman in the 'lawaris' (unclaimed) ward.
The disturbing footage from that prior incident showed the staff members inserting a stick into the mouth of the mentally challenged woman, allegedly following a misunderstanding. These consecutive events have raised serious questions about the supervision and accountability of outsourced personnel in critical healthcare settings.
The repeated lapses point to a systemic need for stricter hiring protocols, better training, and more vigilant monitoring of all staff, regardless of their employment status, to ensure patient safety remains the foremost priority.
