An internal investigation has revealed omissions in the handling of deceased patients at the pathology ward of Zagreb's Sveti Duh Hospital and the hospital's director has relieved the ward's head of his duties, launching a procedure for his and an assistant medical examiner's dismissal.

The hospital noted on Thursday that its management launched the investigation after footage was made public of bodies of deceased patients lying on the floor of the pathology ward and reported the case to the police and the state prosecutor’s office (DORH).

The internal investigation has revealed discrepancies in statements by responsible persons – the head of the pathology ward and the assistant to the chief medical examiner.

They initially said that rules on handling dying and deceased patients and the autopsy procedure had been complied with, but later said that over the past two decades or more “cases did happen when the number of deceased persons exceeded the capacity of the hospital mortuary and due to lack of available places, the deceased unfortunately had to be put on the floor,” the hospital said in a statement.

Due to the violation of the relevant rules, which evidently did happen occasionally and of which the hospital management was not aware, hospital director Ana-Maria Simundic decided to dismiss the ward’s head and the assistant medical examiner.

“On behalf of the hospital and all its employees, the management of the Sveti Duh Hospital apologises to the families of the deceased whose dignity was violated. The management has taken the necessary measures to prevent incidents like these from happening again,” the hospital said.

In late April some media outlets published footage made by a person who claimed the recording was slightly more than two weeks old, showing the bodies of deceased persons lying on the floor of the Sveti Duh Hospital pathology ward.

At least seven bodies were shown lying on the floor while at least four, covered with a white sheet, were lying on gurneys.

The footage also showed closed body lockers.

The hospital management filed a criminal report against an unidentified perpetrator to establish if someone had intentionally taken the bodies out of the body lockers to make a video recording of them lying on the floor.

Simundic at the time requested a statement from the head of the pathology ward, Fabijan Knezevic, who said that at the time when the footage was allegedly made there were no deceased persons that would be lying outside refrigerated cabinets, let alone on the floor.

Under the hospital rules, the bodies of the deceased are put in body lockers and if there is no room there, they are put on a table used for that purpose, covered with a sheet, it was said.

Mayor: Hospital director has my support

In a comment on the case, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said today the hospital director has his support because she has established responsibility for the incident and the persons found to be responsible have been sanctioned, noting that incidents like this one must not happen.

Asked if there really was no room in the body lockers or the bodies were intentionally put on the floor, Tomasevic said that it was unacceptable because the procedure was clear.

Twelve body lockers are available and if on a specific day there are more bodies, they must be put on gurneys, covered with a sheet, he said.

As for the footage of the dead bodies that was made public, Tomasevic said that the police were investigating if a setup was involved.

“The main question is how old the footage is. A claim was made that the footage is two weeks old, and data on the number of persons who died at Sveti Duh in April shows that that is not possible,” Tomasevic said, adding that the internal investigation had revealed discrepancies in statements by the assistant medical examiner and the ward’s head.

“Judging by what they said, that kind of violation of the procedure did happen occasionally, about which the hospital management was unaware. This is a case of gross misconduct, which is why the management has launched the procedure for their dismissal,” he said, noting that the procedure is underway due to consultations with the unions.

The assistant medical examiner who was dismissed has accused the hospital of poor management, saying that more than 200 employees have left the hospital over the past year.

Tomasevic said that he did not know how many persons were fired but that in relation to a year ago, when the new director was appointed, the hospital has 40 more employees, mostly nurses.