How a child’s death sparked HospitalAdvisor, a website rating Hong Kong hospitals
‘As a mother I will always feel guilty for making a choice that led to my son’s death,’ says Shalini Mahtani, founder of new website that rates city hospitals’ quality of care based on patient reviews
When Shalini Mahtani’s three-year-old son died suddenly in 2009, her life was thrown into a tailspin. Zubin was her eldest child, the “love of my life”, but with almost no warning his life was snatched away.
“Zubin didn’t have a pre-existing condition. He picked up a bacteria, probably in school, and died within 48 hours,” says Mahtani.
She took her son to hospital as soon as he fell ill, and he was then transferred to another hospital. Mahtani prefers not to name the medical institutions because there is a legal case pending , but does she blame the hospitals?
“I think the bigger question is: should I have known things then that I know now? And the answer to that is yes. As a mother I will always feel guilty for making a choice that led to my son’s death,” says Mahtani, a fourth-generation ethnic Indian who was born and raised in Hong Kong.
In the immediate aftermath of Zubin’s death, she took leave from Community Business, the non-profit organisation she founded in 2003, and eight months later stepped down as chief executive. In 2014 she founded another non-profit, The Zubin Foundation, aimed at raising awareness about social issues such as patient care and racial integration.
