Patients suffer for second day
The doctors of Birdem General Hospital have decided to resume working from today. They took the decision yesterday afternoon, ending a two-day work abstention in protest against an alleged assault on their colleagues.
Meanwhile, the sufferings of patients seeking emergency medical care at the hospital continued for the second day yesterday. Though the hospital authority claimed to have kept the emergency section operational as usual, many patients were found to have been denied of emergency services at the hospital both yesterday and the day before.
“The outdoor services will be open from tomorrow [today] morning. However, it is yet to be decided whether admission of new patients would be allowed,” Dr Tanzina Hossain of the hospital's Endocrinology department told The Daily Star yesterday evening.
The decision came after the withdrawal of Additional Superintendent of Dhaka Metropolitan Police ABM Masud Hossain, who allegedly had instigated the assault on three doctors following the death of a patient on Sunday night.
Doctors claimed that following the death of Sirajul Islam at 8:15pm, his unruly relatives assaulted and injured Dr Anowar Hossain, Dr Kalyan Devnath and Dr Shamima Akter of Endocrinology department.
At a press conference yesterday morning, Dr Ahmed Salam Meer of the department said they would continue their movement until steps were taken against the attackers.
He also claimed that Sirajul, who had been suffering from diabetes and tuberculosis, died of cardiac arrest and there had been no negligence on the doctor's part.
Farhana Nasreen, daughter of the deceased, however, alleged that the doctors' negligence had caused the death. She also claimed they only had an argument with the doctors but did not assault anyone.
Like Tuesday, the agitating doctors formed a human chain at Shahbagh intersection yesterday too, halting traffic movement on all the roads around for about 20 minutes.
“We had demanded at least a visible action by the government. As police officer Masud is withdrawn, we have decided to call off the work abstention,” said Dr Tanzina.
Meanwhile, relatives of the deceased told The Daily Star that they had gone to Ramna Model Police Station on Tuesday night to file a case against the doctors for their negligence, but the duty officer did not accept it.
“We are totally frustrated. We want justice,” said the deceased's daughter Nasreen.
PATIENTS' SUFFERINGS CONTINUE
Meanwhile, doctors did not attend the outdoor services and no new patients could be admitted for the second consecutive day yesterday, adding to the sufferings of those needing emergency medical care.
“There is no doctor … None wanted to see him. Employees asked us to go elsewhere,” said a frustrated Farida Begum as she was leaving the hospital around 11:30am yesterday after her 50-year-old husband Abdul Malek, who had asthma and diabetes, had been denied healthcare.
They had come to the hospital on Tuesday too but found no doctor to see them.
She said it costs more than Tk 300 to travel from their home in Tongi to the hospital. The cost was too much for them to bear as Malek, a small fruit seller, had been suffering from the diseases for the last three years.
Contacted, Professor Nazmunnahar, director general of the hospital, said she heard some doctors were preventing others from serving at the emergency section.
“As ASP Masud has been withdrawn and the health minister and the ministry officials assured us of looking into the issue, doctors are going to see patients at the outdoor from tomorrow morning. We hope the situation to be normal,” she told The Daily Star.
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