Jodhpur:
It took a patient being bitten by rats in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital in Jodhpur to trigger a clean-up drive. At the city's MDM Hospital today, workers were seen cementing holes through which the rats entered the ICU. Floors were given a good scrubbing, and tiles that had fallen off were slapped back on.
Yesterday, relatives of 70-year-old Mohammed Iqbal, who has been in a coma for two months, found him lying in bed, his face covered with rat bites. Tubes used for his ventilator had been gnawed. In his ward, dedicated to patients who are in critical condition, the staff slept while Mr Iqbal was attacked by the rats.
Doctors at the hospital were quick to announce an inquiry that was meant to find who's accountable for the gross medical negligence. By till 7 this evening, there was no sign of any reports.
MDM officials insist that Mr Iqbal's condition has not been impacted by the rodent attack. Experts elsewhere disagree.
"As the patient is paralysed, he's been in the ICU for a long time, so he's already in a compromised immune state. Under such conditions, these rat bites could even prove to be fatal," said Dr Malti Gupta, a critical care specialist from Jaipur.
MDM is one of the two main government-run hospitals in Jodhpur. Their track record is startling. Last year, 19 people died at the Umaid Hospital after negligent staff used contaminated fluid through IV tubes. In 2010, a baby died at the same hospital after rats attacked him.