B. Chowdhury Tuhin, Noakhali

Despite the Health Minister's surprise inspection on June 16, patients and their relatives who come to seek medical care at the 250-bed Noakhali General Hospital are complaining that there has been no desired change in the services provided.

No service is provided without money. Patients are making such serious complaints against the cleaners and nurses. However, the service seekers are expressing anger over the number of patients several times more than the hospital beds, the shortage of doctors and nurses, the unclean environment and the lack of necessary services. Although the hospital authorities say that these problems have arisen due to manpower and infrastructure limitations. However, the authorities claim that necessary initiatives have been taken to improve the situation.

On Monday (July 27) afternoon, patients and their relatives admitted to various wards of the 250-bed General Hospital raised these complaints. It is known that this is one of the main government medical centers in Noakhali district with a population of about 3 million people. Every day, thousands of patients come from various upazilas of the district, as well as from neighboring Feni, Laxmipur, Comilla and even Hatia and Bhasanchar to seek services. Although the Health Minister made a surprise visit to the hospital last month and gave various instructions, in reality, the patients are still not seeing any change.

On the contrary, the pressure of patients is increasing every day, and with it, the suffering is increasing. Currently, there are about 1,000 patients admitted to this 250-bed hospital. As a result, many are receiving treatment on the floor, balcony or corridor, unable to get space in the designated beds. Sometimes two people are in one bed, and sometimes children and the elderly are receiving treatment in the same narrow, unclean space.

Amena Begum, who came from Subarnachar Upazila for treatment, complained that she has to wait for hours to see a doctor. Services are not available without money. Even for tests and examinations, she has to pay a hefty sum of money to bring medicines from outside. She also cannot get government food without money.
After the minister came, I thought something would change. But there is still crowding, hardship and suffering as before. If I had money, I would have taken care of the government hospital or the private hospital. We don't have that much money. We are poor people. We earn our living day by day.

A patient named Sohag, who came for treatment from Chatkhil Upazila, said that the toilets, waste management and the environment for patients to sit in every ward of the hospital are in a poor condition. Healthy people actually get sick. Cleaners and nurses ask for money.

There is no name for the service, they take money in words. They charge 100 taka, 200 taka and 500 taka. They charge 300 taka for a bed and 500 taka for an examination. Where do we, day laborers, get so much money? Dr. Anwar Hossain, additional superintendent of Noakhali 250-bed General Hospital, said that although the hospital has 250 beds, about 1,000 patients are currently admitted. The patient load has increased several times. There is also an extreme shortage of manpower.

When a district hospital carries a patient load four times its capacity, additional pressure is created not only on doctors but also on the entire health system. We are trying to ensure the highest level of service with limited manpower. Regular contact is being maintained with the concerned authorities to fill various vacant posts, develop infrastructure and improve the quality of service.