Kalyan: A patient with a fractured leg was given a cardboard splint instead of a plaster cast at Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation’s (KDMC’s) biggest healthcare facility, Rukminibai Hospital, triggering a fresh controversy over patient care at the civic-run hospital.The KDMC suspended sanitation worker Mukesh Pandit after an initial inquiry found he had allegedly demanded Rs 400 from the patient’s relatives to arrange plaster material. KDMC health officer Dr Deepa Shukla told TOI that sufficient plaster material was available at the hospital at the time and a departmental inquiry had been ordered against Pandit.Ram Soni, 54, a resident of Beturkar Pada in Kalyan (W), was admitted around 4.30pm on Thursday after sustaining a leg injury. An X-ray confirmed fracture and a doctor advised plastering. However, the staff allegedly used cardboard to provide temporary support, according to his son Abhay.Abhay alleged that the staff told the family four plaster rolls were required, costing Rs 800 if purchased outside. He claimed they offered to arrange it at Rs 100 per roll.Hospital sources said an orthopaedic surgeon had examined Soni and left after advising plastering, following which the relatives were asked to return the next day. When they insisted on immediate treatment, staff allegedly provided cardboard support as a temporary measure. Sources added that over 300 plaster rolls were available at the hospital on Thursday.MNS corporator Ganesh Landge, who raised the issue, demanded that KDMC must ensure medicines and essential medical equipment were available at its hospitals within seven days, failing which they would launch a protest. MNS Dombivli city president Harshad Patil demanded that the state government take over Rukminibai and Shastri Nagar hospitals.The incident comes less than a month after another alleged negligence case at Rukminibai Hospital, in which a two-and-a-half-year-old boy reportedly required surgery after a broken injection needle was allegedly left lodged in his lower back while he was being administered an anti-rabies vaccine.
