Patients at Magura Sadar Hospital are being deprived of proper healthcare service as the hospital is facing multifarious problems, including bed shortage and scarcity of food.
About one million people of the district are dependent on the hospital for health service.
Hundreds of patients come to the hospital but many of them are deprived of proper treatment for shortage of meal allotment, scarcity of bed and influence of brokers.
The hospital was established in 1968 with 50-bed capacity and later in 1998 the hospital bed was upgraded to 100-bed hospital.
But the number of beds is quite inadequate compared to the number of patients which is two to three times higher than the accommodation it offers.
Consequently, around 100 to 200 patients have to receive treatment lying on floor. And for that reason the condition of patients very often deteriorate rather than improve, said hospital sources.
Patients alleged that about two-third of patients are deprived of food as the hospital authorities have capacity to provide food only to those with beds.
Subsequently, the patients who do not afford to purchase meal from outside pass their days with little food or sometimes in starvation, the patients said. In 1998, the hospital was provided with a generator which has remained inoperative for long because of fuel crisis.
The hospital has no allotment for fuel of generator, causing inconvenience to patients and their attendants during load-shedding and their suffering knows no bound in summer as the district experiences eight to ten hours power outage a day.
A number of middlemen are active in the hospital who have hot connection with some doctors.
These middlemen persuade patients to go to a particular clinic and pathology in exchange for commission. These agents also exploit the patients with higher clinic and pathology charge and patients are compelled to provide the charge finding no alternative.
Moreover, medical representatives are also hampering healthcare service.
Although visit of medical representative is restricted from 9am to 5pm every day it is ignored rampantly.
On average, about 50 to 60 representatives visit the doctors every day during the period.
Muktadir Rahman, residential medical officer of the hospital, acknowledged bed and food crisis.
Asked about the disruption of healthcare service by medical representative, he said no medical representative visits the hospital.
He, however, said he would look into the matter.
