Doctors at Birdem Hospital went on strike yesterday morning protesting an alleged attack on their colleagues by the family of a patient who had died on Sunday night.
The doctors said they would not attend patients until the attackers were brought to book. However, the hospital’s emergency wing, Coronary Care Unit (CCU) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) continued its operations.
They staged a human chain at the Shahbagh intersection for an hour, starting from 10:45am, which created traffic congestion. Many patients also suffered due to the strike.
However, the accused family claimed they had not assaulted the doctors. They said they had only protested the patient’s death, which had happened due to negligence and wrong treatment.
According to the doctors, relatives of the patient Sirajul Islam, assaulted a female doctor and vandalised the hospital’s 14th floor of the hospital after he died on Sunday night. They also claimed Additional Police Superintendent Masud was among the attackers.
Two interns, Dr Anwar Hossain and Dr Kalyan Debnath, were injured when they tried to stop the attack, the protesters claimed.
According to a press release issued by the doctors, the attackers also dragged out Dr Shamima who was hiding in a washroom during the attack.
The doctors refrained from staging protests on Monday over the issue since it was Pahela Boishakh, they claimed.
However, the hospital authority did not allow journalists to speak with the injured doctors. Senior doctors and protestors also could not say where the injured doctors were being treated.
After the human chain, doctors sat in a meeting where they instructed their fellow protesters not to talk with journalists about the issue.
“We will arrange a press conference tomorrow (today). There, you will be informed about our next step,” said Purabi Debnath, a consulting doctor.
The accused deny allegations, claim it is a drama.
The Birdem doctors staged a drama to save themselves from the allegations of negligence while on duty, which caused Sirajul’s death, claimed his relatives at a press conference in the capital’s Press Club around 3pm.
Sirajul’s daughter Farhana Nasreen said the hospital authority had lied.
“After my father died, they handed his body to us before the bills were cleared. They feared we would sue them for wrong treatment. Deputy Director (Admin) Dr Nazim called us over phone several times until this morning for a negotiation. As we refused his offer, they staged the drama,” she said.
When asked about the additional superintendent, Farhana said he was her uncle and had come with the family to receive Sirajul’s body.
“We admitted our father on April 9 in ward No 132 on 13th floor under Professor Faruk Pathan. On Sunday, he started having breathing problem. We called the doctor on duty, and they put him on oxygen,” she said.
“Around 6pm, his condition deteriorated. We called the doctors but nobody came. Around 7:20pm they came and gave him an artificial air mask. Once oxygen was pumped, my father died,” she said.
“Anwar and Kalyan were on duty that time. They did not consult with Professor Pathan about his condition. After he died, a senior doctor admitted that the patient should have been transferred to the ICU,” she added.
Even the ECG machine was not functioning properly, she claimed.
Later, Assistant Professor Dr Md Firoz Amin went to the ward and apologised for wrong treatment. Heated words were exchanged between the family and the doctors then, said Farhana.
“We wanted to take my father’s body from the hospital, and they handed the body over to us. I think the doctors staged the drama of protest to save themselves from legal action,” she claimed.
When contacted, Professor Dr Nazmunnahar, director general of Birdem, said they had had a meeting with high police officials to file a complaint against the additional superintendent.
“We will go back to work next morning (today),” she said.
The patient’s family members said they would take legal action against the doctors.
Doctors protest, patients suffer
The doctors’ strike left a huge number of patients suffering.
Mahidul Islam, who came with his ailing mother to see a doctor at Birdem, said: “Doctors can take legal action if they are attacked. They cannot stop providing medical help. If a doctor really gives wrong treatment, he could be fined a huge amount as compensation. Why should we have to suffer for this?”
Other patients also complained about the strike and said no one was attending to them. Many claimed they were given release orders before time.
