The emergency medical services at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) have been suspended as doctors and staffers went on a work abstention following vandalism and assaults on medical staff in the emergency department.
Since Sunday morning, the doctors have discontinued the emergency services, citing security concerns.
DMCH Assistant Director (Administration) Mohammad Abdur Rahman confirmed this around 11am on Sunday.
Mohammad Abdur Rahman said: “This morning, the emergency department doctors stopped providing services due to security reasons. On Saturday, a group of outsiders caused a disturbance. They dragged doctors out of the operating rooms and assaulted them.”
On Saturday, three doctors from the neurosurgery department were assaulted. Following the incident, the doctors identified the assailants using CCTV footage and issued an ultimatum for their arrest.
Otherwise, they announced they would go on strike after 24 hours.
A commotion occurred at DMCH on Saturday over the alleged neglect in the treatment of a severely injured private university student, leading to his death.
The deceased student was identified as Ahsanul Islam, 25, a student of the Engineering Department at Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT). The student's death due to alleged medical negligence led to the assault on a doctor. The situation at DMCH remained tense from afternoon till night.
According to hospital sources, BUBT student Ahsanul Islam was critically injured in a road accident while returning to Mirpur from the airport on his motorcycle around 10pm on Friday.
People nearby rescued him and initially took him to Kurmitola General Hospital, and later, he was transferred to DMCH, where he died on Saturday morning.
DMCH police outpost in-charge Inspector Bachchu Mia on Saturday night said that following the news of the BUBT student’s death, his classmates and relatives arrived at DMCH. They raised allegations of medical negligence against the doctors, leading to disturbances.
Later, a meeting took place between the doctors and the students in the director’s office of the hospital, he added.
When asked, DMCH Director Brig Gen Md Asaduzzaman said: “BUBT student Ahsanul Islam was seriously injured, and there was no negligence in his treatment. However, a commotion arose between the students and the doctors.”
He held a meeting involving both parties afterward.
