Staff Reporter :
Razia Begum was admitted to Lakshmipur Adhunik Hospital with broken hand in the wee hours of Saturday. There was no doctor at that time in the hospital. As such her hand was not examined by any doctor although the hospital staff pushed several injections into her body.
The injections worked negatively. Razia’s condition deteriorated and finally she died at 5am on Saturday.
As a result, the relatives of patient went on rampage and vandalised part of the hospital located in Lakshmipur Sadar on Saturday morning.
They alleged that Razia was not suffering from complex disease. Her right hand just broke. The hospital staff had no right to treat her but they pushed medicine and injection into her body.
A businessman beside the hospital told The New Nation correspondent that the Lakshmipur Adhunik Hospital was running with few doctors. The hospital staff treated the patients which is totally unethical and punishable offence.
Officer-in-Charge of Lakshmipur Sadar Police Station Lokman Hossain said that Razia Begum was admitted to Lakshmipur Adhunik Hospital around 2:00am with a broken hand. There was no doctor in the hospital at that time, but some hospital staff pushed into her several injections and the woman died shortly after that.
Being angered by the incident, Razia’s relatives vandalised the hospital at about 7am, he said.
On information, the police went to the spot and restored discipline.
As the doctors and nurses of the hospital went into hiding, none was available for comment about the incident.
Lokman Hossain said that they were investigating the incident.
According to the recent Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) study, profit-oriented private healthcare services don’t have proper rules and regulations. Lack of government monitoring, undue political influence in management and high profit-making attitude are against rendering proper treatment.
Amid surging needs of the people, the number of private healthcare facilities rose to 15,698 units in 2017 from only 33 units in 1982. Due to inadequacy in public healthcare establishments, the private clinics are making steady growth, as more than 63.3 per cent people receive treatment in the private clinic and hospitals.
The private healthcare services are regulated under the Medical Practice of Private Clinics and Laboratories (Regulation) Ordinance 1982 which has not been updated in order to regulate such a large number of private healthcare facilities. The government took a number of initiatives in the past to amend and formulate new laws and regulations for private medical services. But it could not go ahead with the plan for unknown reasons. Some say private clinics and hospitals have become so powerful that they create obstacles to amending and formulating laws.
The private clinics very often charge the patients arbitrarily due to poor law enforcement. The irregularities in private medical centres located in zila and upazila levels are much higher than those operating in the city areas. It was observed that many hospitals start operations without registration, while the owners pay Tk 5,000 to TK 3,50,000 as bribe to get these registered.
Most of the hospitals and diagnostic centres lack required number of physicians, nurses, medical assistants and instruments. According to official statistics, the country’s private hospitals require 47,056 nurses according to their number of beds. But there is a shortage of 20,281 nurses. The medical staff then make their patients subject to unnecessary treatment.
