Public hospitals run smoothly during Eid holidays

The patients in the capital's public hospitals suffered less during the Eid holidays this year compared to previous years'.
Despite shortage of doctors and nurses found at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), National Institute of Traumatology Orthopedics Rehabilitation (NITOR) and Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital, patients did not face a lot of troubles thanks to good management of the hospital authorities.
Sabbir, 7, who was injured in a Sirajganj road accident, was admitted to the neuro surgery emergency ward of the DMCH on the Eid day.
His father Shah Farid Islam told The Daily Star that the doctors and nurses took care of his son just after the admission. He could completed all the tests for the injured at the hospital in due time.
DMCH source said the hospital authorities, to overcome crisis, released a large number of patients before the holidays.
The number of patients was between 1,034 and 1,080 where it was 1,800 to 2,300 during normal period.
DMCH Deputy Director Mushfiqur Rahman said the patients suffered less during the Eid vacation compared to previous years' as they admitted only critical patients in the holidays.
They could ensure adequate number of doctors at admission wards, operation theatres, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and Coronary Care Unit (CCU), he said. “All the key logistics were kept near the respective units and wards.”
“Mostly non-Muslim physicians and nurses were on-duty according to plan,” NITOR Director Prof KH Abdul Awal Rizvi said adding that a team of Muslim doctors who stayed in the capital were kept stand-by.
Mitford Hospital sources said the hospital authorities planned the same.
The authorities of National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital, National Institute of Mental Health, and Kidney and Urology Hospital also kept special teams stand-by.
However, a fewer number of patients were admitted to the hospitals during the Eid holidays.
Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque visited some hospitals in the capital on August 18.