Patients at Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) are suffering immensely as several units of the hospital are currently running without power.
Doctors and nurses at the hospital complained, saying that the disruption was partly due to cyclone Sitrang and mostly due to an ageing supply line.
Surgery ward no 3 and 4 of G-block(male), surgery ward no 1 of A Block(male) and I block(Eye) have been without electricity for the last three days, while the radiology department has been facing power cuts for the last 18 days, they said.
Besides, emergency medical services, such as those related to x-rays and CT scans, have been suspended. In consequence, patients are being forced to seek such services elsewhere.
The hospital's medicine department, vaccination center, and gynaecology unit have also been running without electricity along with the surgery wards and the radiology department.
Although founded in 1968, electricity lines of the hospital were never repaired. Therefore, staff members blame the worn-out electrical cables for the power outage at the hospital.
“In the last three years, there have been three incidents of fire from electrical short circuits,” said Dr Moniruzzaman Shahin, deputy director of SBMCH.
After cyclone Sitrang made landfall on October 24, power supply was again disrupted across the hospital. As a result, departmental surgeries are being conducted inside the mini-operation theater with charger lights. The general and emergency operation theaters are running with the help of a power- generator.
Mita Baroi, a nurse, said due to lack of power supply it is difficult to administer injections and medicare properly. “Apart from this, we have to do our regular work in candlelight,” she complained.
Abul Hossain, a patient admitted to the surgery unit, said the unit becomes dark in the evening and people are even unable to charge their cell phones.
Dr Saiful Islam, director of the hospital, blamed the cyclone for the state of his hospital.
“We have sent at least 10 letters to the Public Works Department (PWD), about the need to improve the cable lines. But so far there has been no response,” the doctor said.
Kamrul Islam, an executive engineer at the Public Works Department, said that a budget to the tune of Tk3,000,000 has been allocated to improve the cable lines of the hospital. He said that the work would start after the necessary cables are received from Dhaka.
