Task force fines hospital Tk 3.0m

Dr Sirajul Islam Medical College Hospital has been fined Tk 3.0 million for misdeeds like the availability of expired surgical stuff and reagent there.

A joint task force, led by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), slapped the financial penalty on Tuesday afternoon.

As part of an ongoing crackdown on errant private healthcare facilities, RAB executive magistrate Sarwoer Alam led the drive in the 500-bed hospital in Dhaka.

After a five-hour drive, Mr Alam said they found that the hospital used a single petri dish for three patients, which could lead to incorrect test reports.

"We also found expired surgical items and reagents used in medical screening and ICU. We fined the hospital Tk 3.0 million and gave seven days to fix these."

Umme Salma Tanzia, joint secretary (hospital wing) of health ministry, was also present during the raid.

She said the pathology lab there is supposed to wait for 48-72 hours for blood culture results. Surprisingly, it waits for only 10 hours but writes 72 hours in reports.

"People with the coronavirus disease must be kept isolated. But this hospital has COVID-19 dedicated ICUs close to the pathology lab," she told the media.

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