RMCH in a sorry state

Many patients are being treated on the floors of different wards at RMCH for lack of adequate number of beds. PHOTO: STAR

Corruption and malpractice by a section of doctors, nurses, third and fourth class employees and supply contractors have added to sufferings of the patients, they said.

Patients are being deprived of proper treatment due to alleged supply of spurious medicine, artificial crisis of medicine, lack of treatment facilities and neglect to duty by the doctors.

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Inadequacy of medicine in the hospital is a common complaint of majority of patients. Doctors prescribe them to bring medicine from outside the hospital. This compels most poor patients to leave hospital without undergoing full treatment as they often fail to purchase medicine at a higher price, a doctor said on condition of anonymity.

The poor patients are often supplied with spurious, low-quality medicines brought at cheaper prices, he said. They also do not get hospital beds, some patients said.

About Tk 2 crore has been sanctioned for procurement of medicine and medical instruments in the current fiscal, hospital sources said, adding a section of doctors, nurses and third and fourth class employees are selling out those medicine and medical instruments in local markets.

Police and locals caught many of them red-handed on several occasions. At least 12 cases were lodged with Kotwali Police Station against the culprits.

About 70 per cent surgical patients here suffer from infection. A medical officer revealed that the gauze supplied to patients is not up to the mark. These low-quality products are brought from Bogra and Rangpur at cheaper price, he said.

A source in the detective branch of police told The Daily Star, a number of local manufacturing companies having no drug registration are supplying their medicine to RMCH regularly.

About six months ago, the detective branch (DB) of police led by SI Ashok Singh unearthed a fake medicine manufacturing factory at Hazipara under Sadar upazila.

When asked, director of the RMCH Shahajahan Bishwas told The Daily star that the allegations regarding low-quality medicine at the hospital are not true.

He further said, " The hospital could not supply 100 per cent medicine to the patients. But it does not mean that all patients are not getting medicine."