SYLHET, Jan 04: Inhabitants of Habiganj district have been in much trouble as the 250-bed district Hospital runs amid a serious manpower crisis for a long time. Medicare service is being hampered badly with thethe thin staff and officials of the 100-bed hospital.
Mainly the poor and middle class people of different upazilas are the worst sufferers while they have to go to the divisional city or nearby Brahmanbaria or to the capital for better treatment or serious ailments, locals said.
The hospital has a newly built 7-storied building but there had been no improvement in service, they added. However, a major portion of the structure is now being used temporarily for the Sheikh Hasina Medical College, an official informed.
The 13 posts of medical officers out of 37 had been lying vacant while only 85 nurses are at work against the sanctioned 140 posts. Besides, 31 posts of class 3 and class 4 employees had long been lying vacant, the source added.
Of the 2 X-ray machines, one had been lying out of order. There is no NICU or ICU at the hospital while only 7 warmers out of 11 are in use. Usually one infant is to be kept on one warmer whereas the authority is compelled to put 4 on each of those. The only incubator often remains out of order while one of the 2 phototherapy machines is operative.
A number of locals said often the hospital staff ask them to go to the private diagnostic centres for even petty tests like X-ray and others.
They said the government had established Habiganj Medical College while the District Hospital had been upgraded into a 250-bed facility, but the service didnot improve that way. Still we suffer medicare services at the government hospitals, said Anwar Hossain of the District town's Pashchim bazaar area. We saw no major development yet regarding establishment of ICU and PCR lab for Covid 19 tests, even on repeated announcements, he added.
General Secretary of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan, Habiganj district chapter TofazzalSohel said the medicarefacilities in the district has gone down even after establishment of new facilities. We want the authority to arrange required staff and medical offices for those. Otherwise, the situation wouldn't improve at all.
Habiganj District Hospital Superintendent HelalUddin said we are trying to improve the medicare service. We had also requested the higher authority for appointment of physicians for the vacant posts, he added.
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