NAOGAON, Mar 06: The Manda Upazila Health Complex has been running with only three physicians, as the positions of 18 out of 21 physicians are lying vacant there.
As a result, a large number of patients from different areas of the upazila are being deprived of medical services and facilities.
Local people said it is called a 50-bed hospital, but the hospital is just stumbling in every step in providing healthcare services to around 0.5 million people.
The sources said most of the physicians posted at the health complex were transferred elsewhere a few years after their appointments.
Since then, some sub-assistant community medical officers (SACMOs) are deputed at the health complex from various health sub-centres.
This has been hampering treatment at those sub-centres too for the past few years.
Everyday around 300 to 350 people come to the health complex for treatment, but most of them are returning back after a long wait for the doctors.
Mamtaj Bibi and Rupali Begum, two patients from upazila's Bijoypur village informed that they had no way but to go to a private clinic as the health complex did not enough doctors to look after patients.
Lack of medicine is another concern at the health complex. Patients complained they are not being provided adequate medicine which is prescribed for them.
Abdur Razzak of Nurullabad village said once the afternoon session at the health complex provided additional medical service to the people.
But the service has been stopped for lack of physicians, he added.
Upazila health and family planning officer Dr Muhammad Mashiur Rahman said he, along with resident medical officer Bhaskar Chandra Mandal and two other medical officers, had been managing the situation at the upazila health complex.
"The authorities concerned were informed about the shortage of the physicians long ago. They assured us to make new appointments against the vacant posts after publishing the gazette of 39th BCS", he added.
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