New information suggests that negligence may have played a role in 43-year-old Vishal Ramotar jumping to his death from a window of the second-flat Male Medical ward of the West Demerara Regional Hospital to the concrete ground below, because his psychological issues went unrecognized.
Sources in the hospital said that if the nurses assigned to take care of the man had been paying more attention they would have noticed that he had developed signs of depression which, if left unaddressed had the tendency to lead to suicide. Sources stated that the man had certain conditions that he was not coping well with because it meant he would likely die soon, but related that having these conditions alone would not have been enough to drive him to take his life. The sources insist that it was the lack of attention paid to the patient that allowed his situation to deteriorate to the extent where he made up his mind to take his own life.
Ramotar, who was suffering from chronic renal failure, diabetes and hypertension, had been a patient at the hospital for about two weeks prior to his death. According to staff, he was not coping well with his illness. The Matron of the hospital stated that according to the reports she read, the man would often cry out for pain about his body and experience shortness of breath due to his condition. She said that because of his shortness of breath, he would usually go and sit near the window because he enjoyed the incoming air, and owing to the fact he had done this many times, neither the nurse on duty nor the other patients in the ward suspected anything out of the ordinary when they saw him sit near the window.
She said an alarm was raised by the other patients after they noticed the man attempting to climb onto the window. Realizing that the nurse would attempt to stop him, it is alleged that the man jumped, without hesitating, to his death.
Sources said however that the details surrounding his death were not that simple. “He was in the hospital because he had three serious conditions. After a period of time he became painfully conscious of his health issues and developed depression. Careful observation of the patient would have enabled his caregivers to recognize all the signs and symptoms of this psychological condition. This man would have been unusually angry, upset, experiencing anxiety, not eating and sleeping well and very non-cooperative. When people get like this they stop caring and it is left up to the caregiver to recognize these attitudes and refer the individual to the social worker or some other relevant individual, but this was never done. His medical condition led to his psychological condition which ultimately led to his death, and this was all due to negligence,” said the source.
The Matron of the hospital said that after his suicide, the man’s sister, Reena Ramotar, was called and informed about her brother’s death. She stated that in conversations with Reena, she disclosed that her brother had told her a few times before that he did not want to continue living the way he was; that he preferred to die.
According to the Matron, neither Reena, nor any other member of the family holds the hospital responsible for what happened.
