The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued notice to the Delhi and Union Health Secretaries over the death of a young patient following denial of proper treatment at several government hospitals in the national capital.

According to the Commission, it has learned that a 22-year-old man suffering from chest pain and breathlessness was not provided treatment by doctors at different government hospitals in the national capital.The patient, an autorickshaw driver, complained of pain in the chest along with breathing difficulties in the afternoon of June 12.An ambulance was called by the family and he was taken to the Hedgewar Hospital, where he was administered some glucose saline and was referred to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital."At the GTB Hospital, the patient was kept in the emergency ward for three hours but no medical treatment was provided to him. The brother of the patient called police by dialing number 100, after which the patient was admitted.

"But after some time, he was referred to the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital at Tahirpur, Delhi, where he was taken by the family members, in the late night," said a statement issued by the Commission.At Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, too, the patient was kept waiting for four hours and later his family was told that doctors were not available.The patient was then referred to the Safdarjung Hospital, but he succumbed on the way.The family members of the victim have alleged that they took the patient to the hospital in time, but the doctors, instead of providing medical treatment, kept referring him from one hospital to another. 

Expressing serious concern over the incident, the Commission observed how painful it was to know that a person, who was timely taken to the nearby hospital, was not attended by the doctors even in the country's capital. "Instead, he was referred from one hospital to another."The Commission also asked authorities as to why in a super specialty hospital like the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital doctors were not available.Stating that the life of the patient could not be saved because he was not attended to by the doctors, the Commission observed that this was a case of sheer negligence by the doctors, amounting to violation of Right to Life and Medical Care of the deceased young man.The Commission has directed the Health Secretaries to file a detailed report within four weeks.