Less staff but no laxity at Dhaka hospitals

Mohammad Alif, a class VI student of Monipur High School and College, went to visit his grandfather's house in Jessore to spend the Eid holidays.

Playing with cousins and friends was enjoyable indeed. The joy, however, turned into a tragedy as he fell down and fractured his arm while riding a bicycle on the Eid day.

Alif was rushed to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (Nitor) in the capital the same evening.

“Alif was attended by doctors within 15 minutes of our arrival. He is now undergoing treatment. The service seems good,” Mitu Akter, his mother, told The Daily Star at the Nitor on Tuesday evening.

This correspondent visited the emergency of the hospital on Eid day and the next and found some ten patients and their relatives.

They said the patients were attended by the doctors within eight to ten minutes of their arrival.

Dr Samir, an on-duty doctor at the emergency department of Nitor, said on the Eid-day they had conducted 35 surgeries from 8:00am to 8:00pm, which is around 20 on regular days.

Reckless driving led to higher number of accidents, he said.

Dr Samir said many doctors were on Eid leave, but no patient was left unattended.

“For example, four doctors went for rounds instead of ten,” he told this correspondent.

According to the Nitor officials, some 500 patients were undergoing treatment at the hospital on Wednesday.

Mir Shipon, a critically injured patient of the recent Tongi factory blast, is undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

His wife Abida Sultana said they found no negligence in treatment during the Eid holidays. There were fewer doctors, which was not a problem as nurses were available, she said.

The DMCH officials said in the three days of Eid vacation, around 3,600 patients took services from the emergency department. Apart from that, 900 patients were admitted to the hospital from the emergency department.

The Daily Star correspondents during their visits to the DMCH, Nitor, Mitford Hospital and the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital found overall satisfactory responses from the patients during the Eid vacation.

There were some allegations too.

Fatima Akhter, 35, who went to the BSMMU at 11:30am yesterday, the first office day after the vacation, said she saw the doctor who suggested tests of ultrasonography, blood and urine.

“I went to the counter to order for tests around noon, but the personnel said they do not collect blood and urine samples after noon and suggested me to give samples on Saturday.”

Fatima said delayed diagnosis means delayed treatment, and moreover she will have to travel from Wari to the hospital again.

A nurse at the BSMMU said many indoor patients left for Eid-ul-Azha. Though most doctors were on leave during the vacation, there were no problems, she said.

Dr Samiul Islam Sadi, director (hospitals) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said since the Eid-ul Fitr this year, the health ministry has been keeping a control room open allowing people to call if there are any medical emergencies.

Also, during the Eid vacation, the DGHS monitors the hospitals in Dhaka and the districts to prevent medical negligence, he said.

“We tried to adjust the leaves of the doctors and staff, and have made it a strict rule that no doctor shows any excuses in the cases of emergency,” Dr Samiul said.