It is shocking that almost all public hospitals are running indoor services as per media report on Friday with outsourcing of staff who are just manual labour attached to hospitals. They are not regularly paid service provider to hospitals. Much of the blame however goes to restriction on new recruitment of staff from 2013 while promotion of existing staff remained stalled over the decades due to a Supreme Court ban from 1985 virtually sealing opportunity to create new posts at lower level for new recruitment.
It is really shocking that public hospital management are engaging outside helping hands on promise that they will be regularized at some points. They are giving service on such promise over the years while living on tips and other informal payments by patients. They are also largely blamed for theft and misuse of resources. These are the people in hundreds in every hospital toiling to run the healthcare service and make a living when regular staffers; who get fat salary and allowances, are indulging in political activities leaving basic service to irregular staffers. They are charged with keeping the floors clean, supplying laundries; provide food to patients and such other things.
As per media report a total of 46,000 posts of support staff are vacant at public hospitals across the country according to decades old organogram. Meanwhile hospitals capacity has been increased several times but recruitment remained stalled.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) has 2,600 beds facilities compared to 800 beds in 1981. The DMCH management even does not hide the fact that they are critically dependent on the hired staff to run the hospital. The 1,250-bed Rajshahi Medical College Hospital or 1,000 bed Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospitals are facing similar challenges raising question why the public hospitals remained confined to the captivity of a section of people when manpower is available for recruitment.
In our view it is a sheer neglect to public hospitals although they are getting fat annual allocation to run them properly and improve the quality of their services. The Health Ministry must share much of the blame; it can’t overlook the situation when infighting between vested interest groups within the ruling establishments to get their nominees recruited in most cases, besides such other problems. But public hospitals can’t remain in a mess and dependent on outside manpower to give service to the nation. We suggest vacant posts must be filled in phases without delay.
