A LEADING national daily on Tuesday reported on extreme negligence of the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in treating critically burn patients leaving them vulnerable to infections in dirty germ infected beds and such other unhygienic living condition. Burn patients live in highly inflammatory condition on their body and always remain susceptible to worsening of their condition transmitted from dirty bed sheets and rotten environment. Their bed sheets need to be changed every other day and floors properly cleaned with disinfecting chemicals. But to the surprise of many as it is evident from the media reports and a picture attached with that patients have been left using dirty bed sheet up to 35 days in some reported cases without change. It seems to be unbelievable and many wonder why the hospital authorities and particularly the physicians in charge of the Burn Unit are not paying proper attention to the hygienic condition of burn patients. Many fear that the living condition at the Burn Unit of the city’s prime hospital is not only highly infectious but also endangering patients’ life from more bacterial spread on the body to prolong the cure and even worsening their condition. There is no scarcity of bed sheets to change every alternate day; what is at stake is mainly the negligence of the staff to better take care of the patients. The indifference is unpardonable simply and will blur the reputation of the units; which has caught the attention of the nation early this year treating burn patients who were victims of political violence in the streets. We believe that DMCH management and the Health Ministry must act quickly to provide germ-free, spotless and hygienic bed sheets for patients and take steps that they are properly treated and quickly cured.The Resident Surgeon of the Burn Unit claim they change the bed sheets at the intensive care and high dependency units everyday or every other day where most critical patients get treated. But patients claim that they had to use their own bed sheets or such other piece of clothes put a different signal about the situation.. We can’t understand where the problem lies. This nation has enough now to provide clothes to dying patients in hospital beds but if the money is stolen and misused otherwise by people involved in the system; scarcity of bed sheets can’t be blamed. It is unbridled corruption and mismanagement marred with neglect to patients; which had also put the DMCH on media headlines many times in the past. We are sad to say our best institutions are falling apart from unruly and reckless politics from inside. But patients can’t be victims of such neglects.
