MIANWALI – An elderly patient’s decomposed body has been discovered in a storage room at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Mianwali, highlighting a severe case of negligence by the hospital staff.
Reports indicate that in February, Rescue 1122 personnel brought an injured elderly man to DHQ Hospital following an accident in Tehsil Isakhel. The patient, identified as Mohammad Ali, son of Mohammad Asif, had a broken leg.
During his stay at the hospital, no relatives came to visit him. It was later found that the injured man was mentally disabled and had difficulty speaking. Due to complaints from other patients in the general ward, he was moved to a side room.
A few days ago, during a visit by the Punjab Health Secretary, some hospital staff, fearing any objectionable behavior from the patient, transferred him from the side room to an empty storage room. The storage room door was locked, but after the Health Secretary’s visit ended, the staff forgot to retrieve the patient from the storage room.
A few days later, a foul smell began to spread throughout the hospital, prompting the staff to investigate. When they opened the locked storage room, they found the decomposed body of the elderly patient.
Upon learning of the incident, Deputy Commissioner of Mianwali, Khalid Javed Goraya, rushed to DHQ Hospital and ordered an immediate investigation. An inquiry committee, led by DHO (HR) Dr. Rafiq Khan, has been established to probe the incident. The cause of death will be determined following the post-mortem report. The hospital administration, unable to identify the body, has buried it as an unidentified person.
Medical Superintendent Dr. Amir Ahmed Khan described the incident as extremely tragic and stated that an inquiry is ongoing to identify those responsible. He emphasized that all available facilities were provided to the patient, but acknowledged that the occurrence was unacceptable.
