Hospital runs without physician!

Pirojpur Mother and Child Welfare Centre (MCWC) has been running without doctor since December last year.

Its only medical officer (MO) Dr Saleha Akter was transferred in June last year.

She, however, was replaced by Sadar upazila Family Planning Officer Dr Hongsupati Sikder, also anaesthetist at MCWC. He was transferred from MCWC in December.

At present, Family Planning Officer in Bhandaria Dr Sourender Nath Saha is performing the duty of medical officer at MCWC as additional duty. He comes to the centre once or twice a month covering a distance of 23 km.

Patients are being treated by nurses instead of doctors since Dr Hongsupati was transferred.

Cesarean operation was suspended in February last year due to internal feud between Dr Saleha and Dr Hongsupati, causing sufferings to pregnant women.

“I came to consult a doctor about some of my physical problems,” said Runu Begum from Pirojpur town, adding that she was treated by a nurse.

 Kamrunahar and Shahida Begum also returned after taking advice from the nurses.

In the absence of a doctor at MCWC, patients go to private clinics for Cesarean or normal delivery, which is several times more expensive.

Over two hundred patients would visit MCWC every day when a doctor was available, but the number has come down to half of that now, hospital sources said. 

Assistant nurse Dipika Mondal said they do not take the risk of treating critical deliveries in the absence of a doctor.

According to MCWC sources, 530 women gave normal birth and 124 had Cesarean delivery in 2015. In 2016, only 213 women gave birth normally and nine had Cesarean delivery.

Deputy Director Pirojpur District Family Planning Office Ram Krishna Das said he has written to the higher authorities for appointment of a medical officer in Pirojur MCWC.