Dr Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general (administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), has said that no one will be allowed to harass patients at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
He said that the treatment facility at the hospital has collapsed completely due to irregularities.
“From today, we are starting a purification campaign for the entire Rangpur division which will start from Rangpur Medical College Hospital,” he told reporters at a views exchange meeting in Rangpur on Wednesday.
“We want to send a clear message. We will ensure medical treatment for general people coming to the hospital,” he added.
The DGHS official said that no one has the power to prevent people from seeking medical treatment at hospital facilities. The people, he said, will no longer remain hostage to any quarter.
On September 19, Dr Rashedul Amir of the Orthopedics Department at the hospital complained to the hospital director that some staff members had demanded tips from him while he was trying to admit his mother in the hospital.
Referring to the incident, Dr Ahmedul Kabir wondered how general people could get services when doctors themselves are hesitant about seeking assistance.
Earlier on October 2, the authorities transferred three deputy directors of the facility, five days after the stand-release of 16 staff members of the same syndicate accused of gross irregularities and harassment of service seekers.
Saying that the hospital has fallen into the hands of some rogue staff members, Dr Ahmedul Kabir issued a warning, saying such scrupulous staff members will be transferred.
“We have been observing the situation at the hospital for some time now and it appears to us that patients and even doctors are held hostage by some scrupulous staff members and syndicates,” he said.
According to patients coming to the hospital, a syndicate tends to extort money from them during admission, handover of lab tests, and distribution of free medicine.
The support staff members also had asked patients to do medical tests from other pathology laboratories around the hospital, a patient told Dhaka Tribune.
Pathological examination has remained suspended at the hospital for a long time, mainly because of collusion between employees’ union leaders and the lab staff, hospital sources told Dhaka Tribune.
On this issue, the DGHS official said that it is a matter of great regret that service seekers had suffered in trying to get medical care at the hospital.
“We have transferred 16 staff members and three deputy directors and this is not the end,” Dr Kabir added.
Replying to a question from a reporter, he said that patients at the hospital will avail medical test facilities at this very hospital and will not need to go outside.
He said that machines that are broken will be fixed soon and all the units at the hospital will be functional at all times.
Dr Ahmedul Kabir later joined a views exchange meeting with doctors at the hospital and citizens.