Child care worsens at Gaibandha Hospital as patients' number rises

GAIBANDHA, Dec 02: Doctors and nurses at the 250-bed Gaibandha General Hospital have been struggling to handle a rising number of patients, as ailing children receive treatment on the floor and stairs due to space shortage.
Out of around 300 patients admitted daily in the hospital, about 50 are children, most of whom suffering from diarrhoea and cold-related diseases amid a change in the weather. The sick children were admitted to the hospital after local treatment was not effective for them. Besides diarrhoea, their conditions include sudden fever, cold cough, shortness of breath and vomiting.
About 50 children are being admitted against 20 children's wards and 50 to 60 patients are being admitted against 20 beds reserved for diarrhoea patients. A similar space shortage prevails at the hospitals in the upazilas.
Razia Sultana, senior nurse at the hospital, said although many patients are going home after treatment, the staff are struggling as patients numbered three times more than the space are getting admitted in the hospital currently.
Dr. Khyrun Nahar, a pediatrist at the hospital, said, to protect children from various diseases during winter, mothers should not panic and should also not provide them stale and open food. She also said they should keep their children clean and dress them in warm clothes.

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