The shockingly low number of staff at Habiganj Sadar Adhunik Hospital has made it difficult to serve patients well and they are just patching things up as well as possible.
Most of the posts of doctors, nurses and other employees have remained vacant for a long time and so the staff that the 100-seat hospital currently employs is able to only serve half the patients admitted there.
There are 40 posts of doctors, but only 23 are filled at present. The senior gynaecologist post, which is the most important, has been vacant for three consecutive years now.
There are no specialists at the hospital and so the few staff who work there are doing their best to make sure that patients do not get upset at the treatment they receive. In order to do so, pediatricians are seen providing eye treatment, while sex and skin specialists are attempting orthopedic treatment. This is the state of the most advanced hospital in the district.
Moreover, the posts of hospital caretaker, junior consultant, anasthesiologist, residential medical officer, pathologist, radiologist and health education officer have also been unmanned for a long time.
Senior Consultant (surgery) Dr Md Mostafizur Rahman is working as the senior consultant of cardiology and the doctor who was junior consultant of cardiology is now working as senior consultant, medicine.
Consultant (skin and sex) Dr Syed Mujibur Rahman Palash is working as junior consultant for orthopaedics and surgery and the junior consultant (ear, nose and throat) Dr Md Mukhlesur Rahman is currently senior consultant for orthopaedics and surgery.
Dr Md Ziaur Rahman, consultant (paediatrics), is providing eye treatment. There are 56 posts for nurses at the hospital. Of them, only 30 are filled. Though it states 30 on paper, in reality it is 26, since four nurses are working elsewhere.
There are 24 third class posts, including medical technology pharmacists and, of them, 24 are filled while seven remain vacant.
There are 62 fourth class posts, including gate man and sweeper and 49 are filled while 13 are vacant.
When Civil Surgeon Nasir Uddin Bhuiyan was asked about this, he admitted that there was a shortage of doctors, nurses and other staff at the hospital. “We have repeatedly notified the higher authorities of the staff shortage, but they seem to be insensitive to this,” he explained.
“More caesarean operations and other surgeries are done here than at any other hospital in the country. But there are no specialised doctors here to perform such surgeries. Often, doctors are brought here from elsewhere for these surgeries,” he added.
