After being pushed five kilometres on the cart and left unattended for five hours, the woman was admitted to the hospital when the chief medical superintendent came to know about the matter and took action.

An ailing woman was brought to the district hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj on a hand cart due to the unavailability of an ambulance and later, left unattended for five hours at the hospital as there were no doctors there.

After being pushed five kilometres on the cart and left unattended for five hours, the woman, Soni, was admitted to the hospital when the chief medical superintendent, R P Shakya came to know about the matter and took action.

“She is being given best possible treatment at the hospital,” Shakya said after he inspected the hospital and found doctors missing.

Soni had delivered a boy at a private nursing home in Kannauj through ceasarian method on March 30, but the baby died within a few days as it was weak.

Following the delivery, doctors told her husband, Anuj Kumar that her urinary bladder had ruptured. They had stitched it and removed her uterus.However, Soni continued to suffer from severe pain a few days later. First Anuj took her to the local community health centre where he was advised to take her to Kannauj or Kanpur for better treatment.

On Wednesday night, Anuj tried calling the 108 ambulance service, but “it never came”. “She was in so much pain that I decided to take her on the hand cart. My sister Shikha accompanied me from Haibatpur to Katra (a distance of 5 km) on foot,” he said.

At the hospital, as Soni lay on the cart, Anuj and Shikha looked for doctors, but didn’t find one.

As per sources, doctors have been asked to explain their absence.

District magistrate Ravindra Kumar said the unavailability of ambulance is a serious matter. The issue is being investigated and those responsible would be punished, he said.

Anuj was, however, inconsolable. “First the ambulance didn’t come; then there was no doctor to see her for hours at the hospital. She kept writhing in pain,” he complained.

“The doctors have ruined my life. I lost my firstborn within days of birth and now they have told my wife’s uterus is removed because of complications. She will not be able to bear a child anymore,” he said.