When OT is not free, can accountability still be assigned?
Issue -
January - 2026, Posted On: 01 January 2026
A prisoner brought to a tertiary hospital after repeated seizures underwent a CT scan that showed a serious intracranial bleed requiring urgent surgical decompression. The on-call neurosurgery officer reviewed the scan, advised a repeat scan and pre-op investigations, and recommended emergency decompressive surgery once the fresh scan confirmed progression. The patient was posted for immediate surgery.
However, the hospital had only one available operating theatre at that time. Another emergency procedure was already in progress and a scheduled case was queued for the same theatre. Because the theatre remained occupied, the emergency brain surgery could not be started immediately; while waiting for the theatre to become available, the patient’s condition deteriorated and he died before the operation could take place.