Two men suspected of having Tuberculosis were found abandoned on the footpath outside Civil Hospital, Asarwa, in the early hours of Tuesday, raising serious questions about the conduct of medical staff at Asia’s largest government-run hospital.
A video that has since gone viral shows the two patients — one aged 58, the other 45 — lying in distress near the hospital compound wall, wrapped in thin sheets, visibly unwell. Locals who found them said the men claimed they had been forcibly removed from the hospital around 3am by staff on night duty.
Both had reportedly been referred to Civil Hospital from Sola and Godhra civil hospitals on Monday and were admitted to the TB ward under suspicion of tuberculosis. Just hours after their admission, they were allegedly discharged and sent out in an autorickshaw, apparently without medical clearance or family escort.
The Shahibaug police, alerted to the disturbing scene, arranged for an ambulance and had the men re-admitted to Civil Hospital. “If patients were indeed left to fend for themselves in the middle of the night, it is truly unfortunate,” said hospital superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi. He maintained that according to the TB department, both patients had been placed in a non-confirmed ward and left “on their own”.
“The two patients in question were admitted to the TB ward late at night and were provided with the necessary treatment,” he said, quoting Head of the Department Ghanshyam Borisagar and the resident doctors who were on night duty.
The hospital has now launched an internal inquiry. But this is not the first time Civil Hospital’s staff have come under fire. Patients and their families routinely complain of indifferent behaviour, lack of basic compassion, and poor communication from doctors and security personnel alike.
Civil Hospital serves thousands daily — many of them poor and critically ill. The incident has sparked outrage on social media, with citizens questioning the ethics of discharging vulnerable patients in the middle of the night.