Doctors still on holiday mood: Patients’ suffering mounts at DMCH

M M Jasim :
The patients’ suffering continues in the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) due to the absence of many doctors since the first day of the Eid holidays.
Most of the junior doctors and interns have gone on leave and many of them are yet to return, sources said. As a result, patients, including those admitted with serious complaints, are not getting proper medical services.
Twelve years old Khalil suffered severe head injuries after an auto-rickshaw hit him. His maternal uncle Mutalib hurriedly took him to the DMCH but there was no doctor to take care of his nephew. He was anxiously waiting for the doctor.
Khalil was given a bed in a ward, but there was no doctor to take care of him. The doctor of the ward went to another ward. Finally Khalil died. “The boy was still alive when I brought him here,” Mutalib cried.
Patients of ward numbers 100, 103, 201 and 204 gathered bitter experience. Road accident patients were in these wards for the last three days. But there was one Indoor Medical Officer (IMO) for four wards.
Generally, for patients of one ward, there remain on duty one IMO and several junior doctors and interns. But this Correspondent gathered information from various sources that all the junior doctors and interns had gone homes during Eid holidays.
IMO for Ward No. 100, Dr Piyush Kanti Mitra told The New Nation, “I am taking care of four wards
alone because other doctors are on leave.” There are 45 beds in each ward, he said. But the number of patients is more than double and that is why many of them had to take to the floor.
“On normal days, junior doctors and interns attend to the patients. They are now on Eid holidays. But as the teachers of the college (DMC) are visiting the patients, we did not feel much pressure.,” Dr Piyush said.
When asked where the IMOs for the other three wards were, he said, “Well, everyone has their religious festivals. I hope everyone will join work from Sunday.” On the other hand, DMCH Deputy Director Mushfiqur Rahman expressed his reservation about the issue.
He said, “This should not happen. Junior doctors and interns may be on leave, but most of the IMOs (appointed doctors) are on duty. There are in total 275 IMOs in the hospital and 30 of them only have been granted leave during Eid holidays.”
The deputy director, however, claimed there was good number of doctors in the hospital to treat all the admitted patients during the Eid holidays. “But since you have pointed out one case, I will examine the matter carefully.”