Patients deprived as interns' strike continues at SBMCH

Poor patients went home again without receiving treatment at Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) as interns continued indefinite strike for the third day yesterday protesting assault on them by attendants of a patient who died at the hospital Wednesday morning.
Patients with financial capacity have been forced to seek treatment at private hospitals and clinics.
SBMCH hospital sources said 1,200 patients were admitted to the 500-bed hospital, but most were forced to return without treatment as hospital services by interns remained suspended due to the strike.
Condemning the interns' strike, Enayet Hossain Chowdhury, freedom fighter and leader of citizen rights movement, said large amount of public money is used to make doctors and run public hospitals, therefore, depriving people of their health service rights and making demands by keeping patients hostage are not only illegal but unethical.
Poor rural people are the main stake holders of public health service providers and pushing them to death by depriving their medical treatment should be considered as a crime, said Anowar Zahid, a leader of the health rights movement.
Meanwhile, the interns yesterday formed a human chain vowing to continue their indefinite strike until those responsible for assaulting them are arrested.
Acknowledging the stagnancy of health services at the hospital, Ferdous Ahmed Shibir, director of SBMCH, said hospital authority is trying its best to end the strike and senior staff is continuing to attend patients.
Shaheduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, said they received a case lodged regarding assault on the interns but since no names were mentioned, it would be difficult to make any arrests.
On Wednesday, attendants of patient Karimunnesa Bibi, 60, physically assaulted Tanmoy Barua, the duty-doctor at the medicine ward, and Mehedi Hassan, president of the intern doctors' association of the hospital, alleging Bibi had died due to negligence in treatment.
After the incident, the interns brought out processions on hospital campus, held an agitation rally and suspended all medical services at the hospital since Wednesday.