BMC orders inquiry after video shows plastered elderly KEM patient struggling up stairs

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has ordered an inquiry after a video went viral showing an elderly patient with a plastered leg struggling to climb stairs at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai. The inquiry will look into the lift at the hospital's orthopaedic centre being out of service.

RTI activist Anil Galgali posted the video on his X account. In his post, he wrote that the lift in the orthopaedic building had been out of order for a week and that disabled people, patients with fractures and seriously ill patients were greatly inconvenienced. He held the acting dean responsible for the negligence.

According to an official BMC statement, the Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) has formed a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner (Public Health). The committee will examine the circumstances of the incident and submit a fact-based report within 10 days.

The committee will look at the patient's medical condition. It will also examine the ongoing lift replacement work and the hospital administration's approach in the matter. It will also suggest a standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent such incidents in future.

The BMC said the orthopaedic centre's lift is 39 years old and was showing signs of wear. Given its age, worsening condition and the risk of an accident, the hospital administration had begun the process of replacing it. The hospital's civil engineering department is carrying out the lift replacement and the necessary repairs to the lift shaft.

The BMC said the work was delayed because it was practically difficult to keep patient services running at the orthopaedic centre. Making alternative arrangements and safely shifting patients who cannot walk on their own proved particularly difficult.

To avoid inconvenience while the lift work was on, the head of the orthopaedic department had issued a circular. It said patients who cannot walk on their own should not be admitted to the orthopaedic centre building. Such patients were to be admitted to the hospital's multi-storey building, where alternative arrangements were in place. The BMC said the circular's instructions were not followed in the case of the patient mentioned in media reports.

The BMC also gave details of the patient's medical condition. According to it, the patient had surgery in May 2026 and had been walking with a walker for the past two months. The patient was readmitted to KEM Hospital to have the implant from the first surgery removed. That procedure was completed successfully on November 9, 2026.

According to the civic administration, the patient was considered fit for discharge after the surgery under set medical norms and hospital procedure. At the request of the patient's relatives, however, the hospital allowed the patient to stay on humanitarian grounds. The BMC said keeping the patient in the orthopaedic centre building violated the instructions of the department's circular.

Taking the matter seriously, the hospital administration has issued a show-cause notice to the acting unit head concerned. The patient has now been shifted to the hospital's multi-storey building.

The inquiry committee will examine the situation and fix responsibility for the lapse. It will also draw up an SOP so that patient safety and hospital services are not affected during structural repair or alteration work. The BMC said the necessary engineering and administrative steps to restore the lift at the earliest are being taken on priority.