Barguna General Hospital: Acute manpower shortage disrupts services

Even though 12 years have passed since the Barguna General Hospital was upgraded to a 250-bed facility in 2013, its services continued to be disrupted for years due to an acute shortage of manpower.

At present, at least 110 out of 233 sanctioned posts of the hospital remain vacant — including those of doctors, consultants, and nurses.

The hospital currently has only 16 doctors against 55 sanctioned posts, with nine of the 10 posts for senior consultants remaining vacant. As such, it fails to serve around 1.2 million people of Barguna adequately, prompting patients to seek treatment to hospitals in Barishal or Dhaka, often spending extra cost. 

Hospital sources said only the anaesthesia department has a senior consultant in place, while key departments such as cardiology, orthopaedics, gynaecology, medicine, paediatrics, pathology, surgery, ENT, and ophthalmology have no senior consultants at all. Among 12 posts for junior consultants, seven are vacant, including in surgery, cardiology, pathology, and radiology. Of the three sanctioned posts for resident surgeons, one is vacant. Moreover, 22 of the 29 posts for medical officers and equivalent positions are also vacant, so are 22 of the 101 posts of nurses.

Even vital administrative and support positions — including chief assistant, accounts officer, storekeeper, computer operator, and mortuary staff — are also vacant, disrupting daily operations.

"It has been six days I'm admitted here. During this time, I saw a doctor only once. They just hand out tablets and refer serious patients to Barishal or Dhaka," said Nasir Uddin, a patient from Hazarabigha village under Barguna Sadar upazila.

Rubia Akhter, a patient from Dhalua union, said while the patients are provided meal three times a day, the food quality is poor.

Hospital sources also said that despite being a 250-bed facility, government allocations are still based on the original 100-bed set-up even after 12 years, while daily patient occupancy ranges from 400-500.

Currently, the hospital receives an annual allocation of Tk 11 crore for 100 beds, including Tk 65 lakh for meals. However, the actual cost of feeding all patients is around Tk 1.6 crore annually, which compels the hospital to divert funds from other sectors, such as medicines and medical supplies.

Monir Hossain Kamal, president of Committee of Concerned Citizens' Barguna chapter and a member of the hospital's Patient Welfare Committee, said, "Despite protests and campaigns, the situation with healthcare in Barguna remains plagued for long due to shortage of doctors and staff."

Contacted, Dr AKM Nazmul Ahsan, superintendent of the hospital, acknowledged the existing crisis.

"It is extremely difficult to run hospital operations smoothly with so many key positions lying vacant. We have informed higher authorities in this regard," he said.