Chapainawabganj Adhunik Sadar Hospital, the largest healthcare facility in the district, is failing to provide necessary service to the general people due to an acute crisis of personnel.
Three important departments – eyes, ENT and medicine – have been left without any doctor for a long time. Though the hospital has been upgraded to a 100-bed one from 50, manpower for running the establishment was not increased accordingly.
People of the district, especially the poor and marginalised communities, have been suffering due to lack of doctors and proper services. They are having to go to expensive clinics instead.
Resident doctor of the hospital Md Shafiqul Islam said the hospital was upgraded to a 100-bed one in 2006. “However, manpower and other necessary support infrastructure were not increased. Hence we have been struggling to provide healthcare facility to the increased number of patients with limited manpower.”
“Though there should be 42 doctors according to the government estimate, we have only 17. Even then, many of them are not always present,” he added.
At least 500 people visit the only modern hospital of the district every day on average. Patients often complaint of not finding a doctor or service.
A recent visit to the hospital found a number of patients waiting for doctors. They came from various upazilas of the district often travelling long distances.
Nuri Begum and Fatema Khatun came from a remote village of Shibganj upazila. “We came to see an ophthalmologist. But having to find no doctor, we are going back to our village.”
Moreover, many patients, on assurance of anonymity, said they did not get medicines as well. Physicians only provide a prescription and they have to buy medicine from outside store.
According to the hospital record, the government distributed medicine worth Tk90 lakh in the 2012-13 fiscal year. And in 2013-14, the amount was Tk1 crore and 15 lakh.
Saidur Hasan, district reserve store keeper, said: “70 percent of the annual allocation is spent to buy the medicines. And rest 30 percent is spent to buy necessary materials such as oxygen, testing equipment, bandage, gas and furniture etc.”
Acknowledging the limitations, district Civil Surgeon Dr Md Alauddin said: “The 100-bed hospital is actually run by the same number of people we had before. Moreover, many of the existing posts are vacant. We have already written to the authorities to resolve the issues.”
He further said the Health Minister Mohammad Nasim visited the hospital on December 23 of the last year and assured of taking care of the manpower shortage.
In the meantime, without taking care of the existing crisis the government has taken an initiative to increase the bed number to 250. Construction of a new hospital building is already underway.
Local people said this increase in the number of bed would only add to the sufferings of the patients.
They hoped that along with the upgrade, the manpower would be increased as well.