In a discriminatory move, a government hospital in Palakkad has terminated the contracts of eight temporary staff with immediate effect during the pandemic. The unfair layoffs were reported at the Palakkad district hospital, following a mix up over the bodies of two people. The laid off employees comprise of two staff nurses and six grade-2 staff, who are janitors and mortuary workers.
According to Ramya RC (33), one of the eight laid-off employees, the terminations took place after the body of a 75-year-old COVID-19 patient and that of a 38-year-old tribal woman were accidentally swapped inside the mortuary on September 17.
“We were supposed to hand over the body of the 75-year-old woman to her relatives. She tested positive for the coronavirus post her death. However, mortuary workers gave away the body of a 38-year-old tribal woman, who died of drowning and did not have the virus. The body of the 38-year-old was cremated as per COVID-19 protocols and the following day, it became clear that a mix-up had happened,” she told TNM. The staff realised the mistake after they were searching for the 38-year-old’s body in the mortuary in order to perform an autopsy, but instead found the 75-year-old patient’s mortal remains. The hospital authorities were duly informed about the incident.
After the 75-year-old’s kin were informed, a huge controversy erupted with local political leaders also reportedly joining in to condemn the lapse by the district hospital. Two days later, all eight of the temporary staff employed by the hospital were asked to not return for duty. The staff include nurses and janitors who worked in the COVID-19 isolation ward for months together, now feel they have been left in the lurch.
Moreover, no action has yet been taken against the Chief Medical Officer or CMO of the hospital who approved the handover of the body which was later found to be the wrong body.
“There is a mortuary register which has to be updated whenever a body is handed over. On the day of the incident, the relatives of the 75-year-old came to collect the body at 7 pm. I had noted down all the details of the deceased patient, including name, age, serial number, house address etc for verification with the mortuary tag. I had also sent the key to the mortuary staff who say they verified and handed over the body to the kin. We staff nurses are not responsible for handing over the body from the mortuary,” says Athira Mohan, a staff nurse who facilitated the handover of the body, who has now been laid off. Athira, a native of Kottayam, has been working in the hospital for four years now and was set to be made a permanent employee.
According to her, the Chief Medical Officer on duty had allegedly checked and signed the mortuary register before releasing the body.
Following the incident, both Ramya and Athira were called to the Medical Superintendent’s office for an inquiry. The names of nine temporary staff (one staff member has been suspended) on duty on September 17 was also given to the District Medical Officer of Palakkad.
“Subsequently, the medical superintendent informed eight of us to not come back to work until an ‘inquiry’ was done. However, they have not informed us of any inquiry,” Athira adds.
The staff have written several letters to the Medical Superintendent, the District Medical Officer and the Deputy DMO. They also staged a minor protest on the road outside the hospital. However, they are yet to hear from the district authorities hiring them back.
TNM reached out to the Palakkad District Medical Officer (Health) who said, "Regarding the issue, we have prepared a detailed report and sent it to the Director of Health Services. It is upto the Directorate to now take a decision on the issue."