The Jakarta Globe, February 5, 2014.
Jakarta. A legislator has demanded the overhaul of a city-run hospital in Bandarlampung, Lampung province, in the wake of the death of an elderly patient after he was taken away by ambulance and dumped by the side of the road.
Poempida Hidayatullah, a member of the House of Representatives from the Golkar Party, said on Tuesday that the alleged incident on Jan. 21 warranted a complete shakeup of the management at A Dadi Tjokrodipo General Hospital.
“I urge the police to immediately investigate this case, to look into whether the patient was abandoned as part of the hospital staff’s attempt to lighten their work load,” he said in Jakarta.
He also demanded that all staff found to have been involved in the incident face criminal charges in addition to any administrative sanctions meted out by the hospital, saying that what they did was tantamount to murder.
The hospital has come into the national spotlight after reports that staff ordered the “disposal” of a 64-year-old man, Suparman, by having him driven away in an ambulance and dumped by the side of the road. He died shortly after the incident. It remains unclear what he had been hospitalized for or what he died from.
He was identified as an indigent, with no known family.
Bandarlampung Mayor Herman H.N. said on Monday as quoted by Tribunnews.com that the hospital had fired two officials — general affairs chief Heriyansyah and Mahendri, the head of the E2 ward where Suparman had been admitted — for allegedly ordering the dumping.
Police said on Monday that they had named six people as suspects in the case, but they did not include the two members of staff.
Instead, police have charged the ambulance drive, a nurse, two janitors, an office messenger and a parking assistant for complicity in the act, according to the BBC.
“They claim they were only following orders, but we’re still looking into the statement from the hospital,” Brig. Gen. Heru Winarko, the Lampung Police chief, said as wuoted by the BBC.
Heru added that witnesses had claimed to see the suspects carrying Suparman out of the ambulance and placing him inside an empty roadside stall that was normally used by a durian vendor.
Poempida, who serves on the House oversight commission for health affairs, called on the Health Ministry and other authorities to be more stringent about overseeing the provision of health care.
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wo 5 feb 2014 - 10:51