RAJSHAHI, Nov 07: Agents at many clinics and hospitals in Laksmipur area of the city are now more active than ever before in luring patients.
According to sources, everyday from morning till late night, several hundred agents of various clinics are seen to throng in front of the emergency, entrance gate and at road crossings in Laxmipur area of the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) and in front of some other public hospitals.
They mainly target poor and ignorant villagers who come to the hospitals for their treatment or relatives' treatment.
They lure them to get the patients treated by high profile and renowned doctors at the best clinics of the city and give wrong information about doctors and facilities of the clinics.
The agents actually collect patients for those clinics and for the less known doctors practicing there.
Some doctors and clinics appoint those agents for collecting patients for them and pay a commission.
The agents convince the poor, illiterate patients and their attendants to go with them and to be admitted in those clinics.
They also tell the patients that no good treatment is given at the RMCH and the renowned doctors of the hospital will privately diagnose and prescribe the patients at the private clinics.
Being lured by lucrative offer of those agents, many patients are admitted at those clinics and used to pay a high doctor fees and an exorbitant clinic charge.
Sometimes they say to the patient's relative that the doctor is not in Rajshahi, if they want he will take them to a better doctor. Sometimes they say if the patient wants they can meet with the departmental head of RMCH and the doctors on duty at the government hospitals were only interns and they do not have any higher degrees to treat patients there.
Sources said some agents sit in front of the rooms of the doctors and inform patients that the doctors are busy and they can see patients at their private chambers.
There are many such incidents of agents of doctors advising their patients to visit to the private chambers of those doctors at the clinic.
Many agents are also seen moving every wards of the hospital in guise of patients or their attendants and seen to convince the patient's relatives that the hospital was not suitable enough for treatment and that they have personal relation with renowned doctors of nice clinics.
A high official of RMCH said a strong committee has been formed to find out the agents who try to lure the poor patients and divert them to many illegal clinics and to unskilled doctors.
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