COVID crisis: UP COVID patient shares ordeal

A shocking tale of medical negligence with COVID patients in Swaruprani Hospital of Prayagraj ie erstwhile Allahabad was shared with us by Dr Rama Mishra.

On the 13th of April Dr Rama Misra and her octogenarian husband, Dr Jagdish Mishra tested COVID positive.

They admitted themselves to Swaruprani Hospital. They had been doctors and medical professors of medicine here. Dr Jagdish Mishra had served in SRH for five decades. Most of the senior doctors were either his or his wife Dr Rama Mishra's student. It was with this knowledge and sense of belonging that the two legendary doctors got themselves admitted to SRH.

Dr Jagdish Mishra was given a bed. The bed wasn't clean. It didn't meet the hygiene standards of a hospital. Dr Rama Mishra slept on the floor. However,  the Mishras let it pass. They were there to save their life. It was a small thing when the medical staff seemed fatigued with the pandemic.

A junior doctor visited the ward in the morning and evening. Senior doctors were rare. Even when they came for a round they never checked or asked for the medical chart and records. In a conversation with this interviewer, Dr Rama Mishra asserted that no chart was ever maintained.  This means the medical history of the patients was not being recorded. It also implies the prognosis wasn't mentioned.  There were no records of the medicines that were being prescribed.

This was just the beginning of the horrific medical journey Mishras were going to be subjected to. This is not the end of the gruesome treatment meted out to this couple and others in the ward. Dr Rama  Mishra heard many patients scream for help and then die alone. Eventually, she also had to witness her husband's death.

In this interview, Dr Rama Mishra tells about not just the horrific COVID experience but also about the sick health system that killed her husband.