UNB, Munshiganj :
Turning down patients with the excuses of unavailability of necessary services at Sirajdikhan Upazila Health Complex has turned out to be a money-making opportunity for a quarter of its staff as it provides them with a chance to force the patients to spend excessive money for availing of the facilities.
Many patients have alleged that the hospital staff are more interested in charging excessive fees arbitrarily rather than attending their medical needs.
Besides, no money receipt is provided to the patients for the medical charges that they pay. As long as the high charges are not paid, patients are not allowed to undergo any emergency medical tests putting them in an awkward situation.
The list of complaints about irregularities and mismanagement regarding the hospital is quite long. Some major complaints include lack of qualified doctors, doctors seeing patients at their own residences rather than attending patients at the hospital chambers, inefficient and faulty medical equipment, lack of medicine supply to the pharmacy and dominance of middlemen and hospital cleaners.
During a visit to the health complex, UNB Munshiganj correspondent found out that the medical services there have been heavily monetized with the excuses of unavailability of the services.
Expressing her dissatisfaction about the quality of medical services, a patient, Habiba Akhtar, said, “The machinery used here for conducting medical tests is so unreliable that they always yield inconsistent results and don’t match with the test results if done from Dhaka or elsewhere.”
“This is the only hospital in the vicinity; hence, thousands of people rely on this health complex for medical services. But there is hardly any doctor after 12pm. The pharmacy does not have the necessary medical supplies. The hospital staff keep on telling us to collect those from elsewhere,” she said.
“Charging high fees at a public hospital like this one is uncalled for. We pay money but literally do not get any proper medical service from here,” she added.
Turning down patients with the excuses of unavailability of necessary services at Sirajdikhan Upazila Health Complex has turned out to be a money-making opportunity for a quarter of its staff as it provides them with a chance to force the patients to spend excessive money for availing of the facilities.
Many patients have alleged that the hospital staff are more interested in charging excessive fees arbitrarily rather than attending their medical needs.
Besides, no money receipt is provided to the patients for the medical charges that they pay. As long as the high charges are not paid, patients are not allowed to undergo any emergency medical tests putting them in an awkward situation.
The list of complaints about irregularities and mismanagement regarding the hospital is quite long. Some major complaints include lack of qualified doctors, doctors seeing patients at their own residences rather than attending patients at the hospital chambers, inefficient and faulty medical equipment, lack of medicine supply to the pharmacy and dominance of middlemen and hospital cleaners.
During a visit to the health complex, UNB Munshiganj correspondent found out that the medical services there have been heavily monetized with the excuses of unavailability of the services.
Expressing her dissatisfaction about the quality of medical services, a patient, Habiba Akhtar, said, “The machinery used here for conducting medical tests is so unreliable that they always yield inconsistent results and don’t match with the test results if done from Dhaka or elsewhere.”
“This is the only hospital in the vicinity; hence, thousands of people rely on this health complex for medical services. But there is hardly any doctor after 12pm. The pharmacy does not have the necessary medical supplies. The hospital staff keep on telling us to collect those from elsewhere,” she said.
“Charging high fees at a public hospital like this one is uncalled for. We pay money but literally do not get any proper medical service from here,” she added.
