Poor management scares off patients
Despite making remarkable strides in improving medical treatment, the country's hospitals are still struggling to earn the trust of patients because of inefficient management, speakers told a book launch yesterday.
One of the reasons why so many Bangladeshis seek treatment abroad is that the management of the hospitals fails to satisfy them, they said. While the number of hospitals and clinics continues to grow, little was done to improve their management, they added.
The launching ceremony of the book, “Hospital Management: The Future in Asia”, was organised by India's Dasgupta and Company, the publisher, and Pathak Shamabesh, the distributor in Bangladesh--at the capital's The Daily Star Centre.
“Good hospital management requires specialised knowledge that can be gathered through training. It should not be assumed that a good physician would automatically make a good hospital manager,” said National Professor MR Khan.
He added that patients who travelled abroad for treatment often found the hospital staff courteous and warm--a crucial element of healthcare service, which was absent in Bangladesh.
Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, observed that lax management was responsible for wastage of both human and material resources in hospitals.
“It is ultimately the management that brings the best blending of human and material resources to give you the best results.”
Without proper management, even the best of physicians and technicians cannot utilise their skills due to poor working ambience, Anam said.
He praised the authors Prof Rubaiul Murshed, a health columnist; Md Lutfar Rahman, director of Grameen Kalyan; and late Indian physician Dr Praful B Pawar, for the book.
Lutfar Rahman said top management officials of hospitals often thought that improving quality meant increased expenditure.
Managing Director of Samorita Hospital Dr ABM Harun said the mushrooming of hospitals and clinics in Bangladesh had created the need to study hospital management as a discipline in its own right.
Managing Director of Square Hospital Tapan Chowdhury and Dr Kunio Saiki, medical attaché of Japanese embassy, also spoke at the event, moderated by Wahidul Haque of Pathak Shamabesh.
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