The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has decided to suspend all activities of Dhaka Trauma Centre and Specialized Orthopaedic Hospital, as it has not renewed its licence since it expired on June 30, 2018.
A letter, signed by Dr Aminul Hasan, director (hospitals and clinics) of the DGHS, was issued in this regard on Tuesday, reports Bangla Tribune.
“This suspension -- under the Medical Practice and Private Clinics and Laboratories (Regulation) Ordinance, 1982 -- will continue until the hospital gets its licence renewed,” said the letter, addressed to the hospital’s managing director.
Moreover, the hospital authorities have been asked to explain, within seven days, why the DGHS should not take legal action against it.
“The DGHS found several irregularities at the hospital during its visit on July 18 this year.
“It said the Dhaka Trauma Centre did have the list of fees and charges for treatment on display in the open, despite the High Court's order in this regard. The hospital officials also failed to show their licence to operate,” the letter said.
“The hospital also lacks adequate manpower. Ward boys and non-medical professionals were assisting the doctors who were operating on patients. The environment of the hospital was found to be unhygienic. Oxygen cylinders were not stored in a safe manner. The chances of an accident occurring at the hospital at any given time are very high. The ICU was found to be closed during the inspection. A hospital like this is not suitable for operating ICUs,” the letter further said.
The raids against hospitals
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Monday lodged a case against Shahabuddin Medical College Hospital Managing Director Faisal Al Islam, Assistant Director Abul Hasnat, and Store Keeper Shahriz Kabir, for unauthorized Covid-19 tests at the hospital.
The case was lodged and arrests made after a raid at the hospital premises on Sunday, where RAB found nine different irregularities, including the issuance of Covid-19 test reports without approved tests, using unauthorized rapid test kits for Covid-19 tests, and admitting Covid-19 negative patients by giving them fake Covid-19 positive test results.
Furthermore, the hospital was found to have been continuously offering services even though its license expired in June 2019.
The three arrested hospital officials were put on remand for five days by a Dhaka court on Tuesday.
Earlier, the government suspended permissions to conduct Covid-19 tests at five private hospitals and diagnostic centres: Shahabuddin Medical, Care Medical College, Stemz Healthcare, and Thyrocare Diagnostic in Dhaka, and Epic Health Care in Chittagong.
On July 6, RAB sealed the Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital due to a scam involving Covid-19 tests.
The hospital collected close to 10,500 samples, of which nearly 6500 were not tested. The Regent Hospital authorities provided fake certificates for the untested samples, said RAB spokesperson Ashiq Billah.
A week later on July 15, RAB arrested Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammad Shahed, alias Shahed Karim, on charges of providing fake Covid-19 certificates and embezzling money from patients. He was arrested in Debhata, Satkhira.
On June 24, police detained five people including Ariful Chowdhury, CEO of private healthcare organization JKG Health Care, for a Covid-19 testing scam.
The group used to collect samples from people who wished to be tested for Covid-19 and then sent them false reports for a fee, said investigators. Later, DGHS revoked the testing license of JKG Health Care.
On July 12, police arrested JKG Health Care Chairman Dr Sabrina Arif Chowdhury for her alleged involvement in the Covid-19 testing scam.
