Staff Reporter :
Rajib, 30, received severe injury from a road accident on Saturday. Over the next three days, the family drove him to three public hospitals around the capital – but all of them refused to admit him.
His family alleged that he was first taken to the Kushtia Sadar Hospital but doctors and healthcare officials denied admission considering his condition and referred him to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), an orthopedic hospital at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka.
On the following day, Rajib was taken to NITOR by an ambulance but the hospital officials denied admission saying that they would not admit him without his Covid-19 test results.
Being denied admission Rajib and his family members took shelter at a city hotel.
On Monday, the family took him to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and Hospital and put their hectic effort to get Rajib admit there. Even the family waited outside the hospital’s emergency room for hours.
But the hospital staff turned away the patient (Rajib) again saying they would not admit him without his Covid-19 test, alleged the family.
Later, they drove him to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital for admission but he was denied admission again. The admission desk of the hospital this time also sought Covid-19 test result.
Denying admission, the hospital officials however suggested the family to take him NITOR again as the hospital usually deal with orthopedic related cases.
Finally, the family took him to NITOR again on Tuesday. But this time, the authorities said that they did not have any bed available.
Other families across the capital have faced the same problem despite the government’s directives to take admission of all patients.
As the number of coronavirus cases jumps, questions have been raised about whether the hospitals can cope with the disease and patients with other conditions.
