More than 150,000 people are being deprived of medical service because of acute shortage of doctors, medicines and medical instruments at Lama Upazila Health Complex in Bandarban.
Lama Upazila Health Complex has now become a place where people only can get primary treatment as the hospital has no other facilities to provide better service to its patients.
The only x-ray machine of the hospital has been out of order for more than two years. Patients complained that they have to go to Cox’s Bazar, the neighbouring district town of Lama, to get an X-ray service.
The health complex in the hilly area is supposed to have nine doctors while it has only three doctors to serve people. And the irony is, most of the time they remain absent.
Out of 53 posts 12 have remained vacant for a long time.
The 50-bed hospital has two ambulances, but both of the vehicles have been out of order for the last two years.
Hospital sources said ambulances had not yet been repaired as authorities were facing financial crisis.
Jaoynal Abedin, a patient and a local of the area, said sometimes patients die as they could not be shifted on time to sadar hospital due to ambulance crisis.
Many patients complained that in most cases they have to purchase medicines from dispensaries as the hospital has no adequate supply of medicine.
On top of that, jealousy between two doctors – Dr Md Shafiur Rahman and Dr Nazrul Isalm –added to people’s misery.
Sources at the hospital said the two doctors cannot stand one another and sometimes patients suffer due to their personal jealousy and no-cooperation.
Sometimes getting treatment depends at the doctors’ will, one of the patients said.
While contacted Dr Nazrul Isalm denied the allegation that they had any rivalry. He said they were performing their duties according to their job responsibility.