DHS smells a rat, sends memo to Kozhikode General hospital

KOZHIKODE: The Directorate of Health services (DHS) has issued a memo to Kozhikode General hospital Superintendent and others for the remains of a dead rat being found in the water supplied to the ward. The issue which occurred on July 2 had stirred a hornet’s nest as there were conflicting reports of the incident within the health department. District Medical Officer (DMO), Dr V. Jayashree said that the memo had been issued to the Hospital Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent and others. The memo is a sequel to the report of the district medical office stating that there was a lapse on the part of the hospital authorities.

But interestingly, the report of Hospital Superintendent, Dr. V. Ummer Farook is skeptical of the incident and raises suspicions whether any foul play had occurred. The report of the Superintendent was sent to the Additional Vigilance Director of the DHS. As per the report of the then DMO-in-charge, Dr Ashadevi, the topping cover of the tank was found to be open which should have been maintained properly by the Public Works Department (PWD). Further, the lapses of the hospital infection control (HIC) unit and that of the hospital housekeeping section has also been mentioned.

According to the superintendent's report, there is no evidence to corroborate that the carcass of the rat came from the hospital tank. “The patient and bystander who reportedly found the rat had left the hospital on their own without discharging. This raises doubts,” said superintendent Dr Farook. Further, his report underlined that there was a filter in all the water taps in the hospital thus there was hardly any chance of the remains flowing through the tap. Dr Farook claimed that he had not received any memo from the DHS. After the rat incident, there was another where the septic pipe got broken in the hospital and the waste had drained out. Sources expressed doubts that the pipe had been deliberately broken.