Chattogram Bureau :
The Directorate General of Health Services has found 11 irregularities in Chattogram’s Max Hospital where a journalist’s 2 and a half years old daughter died due to alleged wrong treatment.
The irregularities included non-renewal of the hospital licence, hiring of doctors without appointment letters, lack of information about nurses and other staff and absence of a blood bank.
Kazi Md Jahangir Hossain, Director for hospitals and clinics, sent a notice on Wednesday to the hospital asking it to submit a report in 15 days with detailed explanations about the irregularities.”We warned that the licence of the hospital will be cancelled once it failed to do so,” he told bdnews24.com on Thursday.The 150-bed hospital did not apply for licence renewal and has no specific information about the appointment of specialist doctors, cleaners and other staff, according to the notice.Information about pathologists and other medical technologists was not available either, it said.Raifa Khan, daughter of Dainik Samakal’s Chattogram-based Senior Correspondent Rubel Khan, died due to alleged wrong treatment at the hospital on June 29.Rubel earlier told bdnews24.com that his daughter had been admitted to the hospital because she had a throat ache due to a cold and was refusing to eat.”They gave her antibiotics and she expressed discomfort. The hospital administration was informed and they suggested contacting a child specialist.”When journalists launched a demonstration at the hospital on the night of Raifa’s death, alleging she has been ‘killed’, police took the duty doctor and nurse to the local station. Bangladesh Medical Association’s Chattogram unit General Secretary Faysal Iqbal was rude to the journalists’ leaders there, the journalists alleged.Amid continued protests by the journalists’ unions, the directorate formed a three-member committee, headed by Dr Jahangir, to investigate the death of Raifa.The Chattogram Press Club and Chattgram Union of Journalists demanded closure of the hospital at a news conference on Thursday.Chattogram Press Club President Kalim Sarwar said their demonstrations were not against all the doctors, but some particular ones who had a hand in Raifa’s death.”Now a quarter with vested interest is trying to pit the two groups of professional against each other,” he alleged.CUJ President Nazimuddin Shyamal demanded Ant-Corruption Commission investigations into alleged grafts at the Hospital.Shuklal Das and Hasan Ferdous, general secretaries of Chattogram Press Club and CUJ, respectively, also spoke at the news conference.
Show cause notice to Max Hospital : Civil Surgeon of Chattogram Dr Md.Azizur Rahman Siddiqui handed over a show cause notice to the authority of Max Hospital in the city for wrong treatment and negligence to a patient Raifa Khan(3) , a daughter of a journalist .
The show cause notice meant for Max Hospital so issued by the Ministry of Health was received by the Civil surgeon office of Chattogran on Wednesday and thereafter it was handed over to them. Max Hospital Authority has been asked to reply the show cause notice by next 15 days. General Manager of the Max Hospital Ranjan Prasad Das admitted the receipt of show cause notice of the concerned ministry.Following the submission of the enquiry report of the probe committee in connection, the show cause notice was issued.
Meanwhile , patients movement towards Max Hospital and Doctor’s chambers there witnesses negligible numbers following the publications of bad reputations of the hospital centring death of journos daughter Raifa Khan and wrong operation of police naik Jahangir in different newspapers in last one week. Hospital sources said that the Hospital has been operating with 150 beds and on average daily patient admission was 40 to 50 patients but after first July last, the number of admitted patient is 10 only.
Chamber patients comparatively lessed by 75 percent, sources added. Besides, the journalist community of the port city including capital based central journalists launched movement for closure of Max Hospital and exemplary punishment of the physicians for the death of journos daughter . Accordingly probe committee formed in the meantime and enquiry report already submitted to Health Directorate , reliable sources said.
