Nilesh Nikte from Ahmedabad was confused and shocked after he kept receiving repeated calls on 30th May of his father-in-law, Devram Bhisker, being tested negative and ready to be taken home.
Ahmedabad| In the latest muddle by the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, a family who cremated the body of the family member kept getting calls informing that the member has tested negative and is ready to be discharged.
Nilesh Nikte, a marketing executive living in the Nikol area of Ahmedabad, was confused and shocked after he kept receiving repeated calls on 30th May of his father-in-law, Devram Bhisker, being tested negative and ready to be taken home. The only issue with this issue was the family had cremated the body of Devram 24 hours prior to the calls.
Since, according to protocols, the patients who are suspected and positive of Covid-19 and succumb to the virus, are covered in PPE and other sheets to avoid contamination of others performing the last rites. Nikte said he was baffled and was taken aback if he had actually cremated his father-in-law or someone else 24 hours ago.
70 Years old Devram Bhisker was declared dead on 29th May and the body was given to the family members. But on 30th May, Nikte got a call from the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital stating that his father-in-law has tested negative for the coronavirus and is ready to be taken back home. Shocked by these calls, the family rushed to the hospital to clear the confusion, where the authorities stated that the call centre had not been updated of Devrambhai’s condition and hence they were sending out calls to the Nikte family. Despite this, Nikte says, he got repeated calls at 2 PM stating that their family member has tested negative and is ready to be taken back home.
“This is such mental torture, the authorities have no idea. I have nothing against doctors, but this kind of miscommunication takes a toll on the members of the patients family. I was in self-doubt that whether I actually cremated my father-in-law or someone else. And if so, where is my father-in-law? Even after speaking to the authorities, this kept happening,” Nikte told the news channel Republic TV.
Gujarat Cancer Research Institute, where Devram was admitted, said while addressing the issue to media, “the family was trying to be contacted since the evening of the death of the patient and we were only trying to communicate that the patient had tested negative for coronavirus. But the death had taken place due to severe diabetes. However, this was a lapse in communication nothing else,” Dr Shashank Pandya of GCRI said.
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