Patients suffer as KMCH battles against bed shortage

Despite having a capacity of 500 beds, the Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH) is currently treating more than 1,300 patients.

The situation is causing immense discomfort and difficulty as many of them are being forced to stay on the hospital floors to receive treatment.

Abu Sayeed, a road accident victim, was seen lying on the hospital floor under a staircase. His father, Mansur, said since there were no beds available, they had no option but to stay there.

The victim's sister-in-law said that if Sayeed needed any medical attention, they had to go to the wards and talk to nurses. Later, the nurses inform the doctors if required. 

Karima Akhter, who attempted a suicide, also had to receive treatment on the hospital floor. Her aunt Anjira Begum said, after taking Karima to KMCH, they had to wait for over three hours to find a doctor.

This situation is putting massive pressure on the doctors, nurses, and hospital authorities, who are struggling to cope with the high number of patients due to a staff shortage.

According to hospital sources, patients are referred to this hospital for better treatment from 12 general hospitals and 76 upazila health complexes of the Khulna division.

Out of 288 posts of doctors in the hospital, 81 posts are still vacant. There are five senior consultants against eight posts, 31 registrars against 44 posts, and 63 deputy registrars against 91 posts.

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Besides, the hospital has 43 indoor officers against 55 posts, 29 outdoor officers against 36 posts, and four emergency officers against six posts.

Currently, patients are treated in 31 wards under 16 departments. Five doctors are working in the anesthesia department against 38 posts.

Besides, only two operation theater anesthesiologists have been appointed to 10 posts in the hospital. There is no ICU anesthesiologist in the hospital despite having six posts. 

The sources also noted that there are two operation theaters in the hospital; one is for emergency patients and the other is for general patients. 

An average of 27 patients are treated daily in the five beds in two operation theaters of the hospital.

Meanwhile, one of the two CT scan machines, a 300mA X-ray machine, and two of the six ultrasonography machines in the Department of Radiology and Imaging are not functional. 

The radiotherapy department's 6MV linear accelerator machine has been left unused for almost a decade, hindering proper treatment for cancer patients in the Khulna division.

The radiotherapy and oncology department at the hospital reports that despite treating 1,600 cancer patients this year, none of them received radiotherapy.

In this regard, Ataur Rahman, ward master of KMCH, said some 1,200-1,400 patients are admitted here daily. “On Thursday, the number of patients admitted reached 1,300, and on Friday, it was around 1,200.”

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Ataur noted that the scarcity of beds had left patients with no other option but to receive treatment while staying on the hospital floor. “Additionally, the hospital's outdoor department is providing treatment to an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 patients.”

Dr Md Mukitul Huda, assistant professor of the radiotherapy department, said: "Cancer patients receive three types of treatments – chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. In this hospital, patients can undergo chemotherapy and surgery. We cannot provide radiotherapy.”

He added they were given a linear accelerator machine for radiotherapy, but they could not even get it out of the box. “We refer patients who need radiotherapy to Dhaka.”

Dr Rabiul Hasan, director of KMCH, said: "Though the hospital has only 500 beds, about 1,500 patients are admitted here. As a result, there is no space, including the hospital's balcony.”

He pointed out that the shortage of medical staff is adding to the difficulty in treating such a large number of patients.

Dr Hasan further revealed that the construction of a new six-storey radiology and imaging department building was underway. Upon completion, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would provide adequate personnel and equipment, eliminating the need for patients to be referred to Dhaka for treatment.