Patuakhali General Hospital plagued with problems

Patients being treated on floors of Patuakhali General Hospital due to bed crisis. PHOTO: STAR

This was gathered from different sources at the hospital during a visit there by this correspondent on Thursday. On an average, 400 patients come to the outdoor every day but more than half leave without meeting a doctor, they said.

Though the 100-bed hospital was upgraded to a 250-bed one, the manpower remains as before.

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Out of 432 posts, the hospital has a total staff of only 140 including 10 doctors. There are 33 sanctioned posts of doctor.

Twenty-three posts of doctors are vacant for long at the lone government hospital for about 16 lakh people in the district.

A doctor has to do different types of workattending patients at the outdoor, emergency and in wards, performing routine office work, autopsy of bodies etc. So, it is difficult for the doctors to properly attend all the patients who come to the hospital every day, they said.

The 250-bed hospital is plagued with problems, causing suffering to patients. The problems include inadequate doctors, other staff and beds, shortage of medicines and equipment, water crisis and loadshedding of electricity.

There is had any space on floors as patients occupy those. The number of patients are increasing day by day, but the facilities are as before.

Four out of seven posts of Medical Officer (MO), three out of four Senior Consultants (Medicine, Surgery, Child and ENT), three out of seven Junior Consultants (Gynecologist, Eye, Orthopedic, Cardiologist, Anesthetist, Pathologist any Radiologist), and all four posts of Emergency Medical Officer (EMO) are vacant, the sources said.

They said there are only four wards and twelve cabins. Shortage of medicines is another chronic problem. Patients have to buy most of the medicines from local markets, many of them told this correspondent.

The hospital was set up in 1979 with 50 bed on 12.44 acres of land at Kalikapur in the district town. Latter the beds were increased to 100 in 1989 and to 250 in February this year. But the number of doctors and other styaff has not been increased.

Civil Surgeon (CS) Dr Nurun Nahar who is also the Superintendent of the hospital, said the organogram was sent to the health ministry four months ago, but to no reply yet.

There is no generator to perform emergency operation when electricity goes. The lone generator bought long is out of operation. The sources said the hospital authorities can not provide fuel for its operation.