Unclaimed bodies pile up at Sewri TB hospital
Every year, several tuberculosis (TB) patients who come to the city from across the country for treatment, succumb to the infection at the Sewri TB hospital.
Every year, several tuberculosis (TB) patients who come to the city from across the country for treatment, succumb to the infection at the Sewri TB hospital. But many of the bodies remain unclaimed by their relatives due to stigma and fear attached to the infection. But this has become a concern among morgue workers as the hospital morgue is piled up with abandoned dead bodies. To add to their concerns, red tape further delays the process of cremation of the bodies by at least 30 days. But by that time, the body starts decomposing.
The Sewri TB Hospital, one of Asia’s largest TB hospitals, is suffering from an acute shortage of mortuary staffers. And the increasing number of unclaimed bodies in the morgue is worsening the situation.
“Every week, we receive at least one body of an abandoned patient at the morgue. There are several other such abandoned bodies that are being piled up for more than a month and more. The morgue is already filled with bodies,” said a morgue worker at the hospital on condition of anonymity.
The hospital is facing an acute shortage of morgue workers. Though the morgue requires manpower strength of 17 class IV workers, currently it employs only 10. The workers said this has put extra work pressure on them.
“It has become hectic for us to maintain the morgue properly due to manpower crunch. We have to work extra hours to meet the shortage of staff,” said another morgue worker at the hospital.
When a patient’s body remains unclaimed, as per the hospital protocol, the authority waits for 10 days for relatives to claim it. If nobody turns up to claim the body, it is sent to a nearby tertiary centre to check on HIV infection.
Following this, non-governmental organisations that work with the hospital to cremate unclaimed dead bodies need to procure no-objection certificates from both the hospital and the police station before cremating the body concerned.
“It takes another 15-20 days to get the permission. But by that time, the body starts decomposing and it becomes more problematic for morgue staff to handle such bodies,” said a doctor practising at the hospital.
Commenting on the shortage of mortuary staffers, a doctor said that due to the fear of infection, not many are ready to work in the hospital. “Workers are scared of getting infected by the patients so they refuse to work in the hospital. Not only mortuary staffers but the situation is same in all the departments,” said the doctor.