Amid acute shortage of doctors, staff at the Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital and four upazila health complexes, are struggling to provide medical service to about 1.8m people in Lalmonirhat.
As a result, the patients are being deprived of proper treatment. The inability to cater to patients is attributed to shortage of physicians.
According to sources at the office of the Lalmonirhat civil surgeon, a total of 86 out of 117 posts of doctors are lying vacant at the hospital and the health complexes in the district.
Out of these, 50 out of 64 in Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital, nine out of 12 at Aditmari upazila health complex, 10 out of 14 at Kaliganj upazila health complex, 9 of 15 at Hatibandha upazila health complex and 8 of 12 at Patgram upazila health complex are lying vacant. There are only 54 doctors against a total capacity of 122.
While visiting Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital, this correspondent found that over 100 patients were lying on floors, passages and corridors of the hospital, due to a shortage of beds.
The hospitals and complexes are also congested and dirty, increasing health risks, especially to child patients. “We get exhausted looking after so many patients here. More room is needed to accommodate patients in the ward. We have already informed the civil surgeon about the difficulties,” said children’s ward-in-charge Dr Hafizur Rahman.
About 600 outpatients come to the sadar hospital daily and approximately 200 patients come to each of the four upazila health complexes every day. But most of them go back disappointed, after receiving poor treatment due to shortage of doctors.
The Residential Medical Officer (RMO) at the Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital, Dr Tapan Kumar Roy said: “We have to cater to both outpatients as well as patients who are admitted to the hospital, with only 14 doctors. Some 550 to 600 outpatients come for treatment daily. Sometimes patients and their attendants become annoyed as we cannot give proper attention to them.”
The Lalmonirhat Civil Surgeon, Dr Jahangir Alam Sarker, said he had sent twelve letters from January of last year to May of this year, to the concerned authorities, requesting that the vacant posts of doctors be filled. However, no action had been taken in this regard as yet.
