The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Tiruchi Corporation Commissioner and the Dean of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, Tiruchi, to inspect the hospital and file a report on sanitation, security and basic facilities at the hospital.
A Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by S. Jayashree of Thottiyam taluk in Tiruchi district. The petitioner pointed to the recent incident at the hospital in which an elderly woman undergoing postoperative care in the general ward following orthopaedic surgery at the hospital suffered a toe injury after being reportedly bitten by a rat.
She said it was the duty of the State to ensure that every citizen who seeks medical treatment in a public hospital is provided with a clean and safe environment, free from infection and disease. However, in most government hospitals in the State this basic obligation is not being fulfilled.
The elderly woman’s son had reportedly brought the severe rat infestation in the ward to the attention of the hospital management and the staff at least three days prior to the incident. Despite the warnings, no effective preventive or corrective measures were taken, she said.
When a patient is bitten by a rat inside a government hospital even after repeated complaints regarding rat infestation, it reflects a serious failure to maintain a safe and hygienic treatment environment and calls for an immediate institutional inquiry. The incident assumes greater seriousness as the patient was an elderly person and was said to have diabetes, she said.
There were also other deficiencies requiring urgent administrative attention. The condition of the restrooms was unsatisfactory. There was persistent stagnation of drainage water. Such conditions in a hospital environment can increase the risk of infection, she said, adding that there were also serious issues pertaining to vehicle theft, stray dog menace and handling of dead bodies after post-mortem examination.
The petitioner sought a direction to authorities to properly maintain the hospital and pay a fair compensation to the elderly woman who suffered injury due to rat bite.
The court sought a report and posted the matter for hearing to October 15.
Published – September 22, 2026 08:27 pm IST
