Ordeal at hospital outdoors

People flock to a ticket counter to get medical services at the outdoor section of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital where only one employee is there to issue the tickets. Patients throng city hospitals, struggle to get doctors' attention only for less than 2 minutes

Due to lack of manpower, other facilities and increasing number of patients, doctors at the outdoor departments of important city hospitals can only see a patient for as little as less than two minutes.

While the number of patients has more than doubled in the last few years, the number of doctors has not increased at all.

After buying a ticket and waiting in line for hours, outpatients often see that the doctor has finished writing the prescription before they had even finished telling what their problem was.

An attendant of a patient at the outdoor section of Suhrawardi Hospital said, "We are not receiving free treatment here. We pay taxes and buy tickets for the treatment. But the doctors behave in such a way as if we are disturbing them and they are doing us a favour."

The on-duty doctor of the hospital said, "Every day nearly 400 patients come here for treatment at the outdoor department of the medicine ward but there are only four doctors. It is not possible for a doctor to see 100 patients from 8:00am to 2:00pm at a stretch." He said the situation is almost the same at the outdoor departments of ENT, Skin and Gynae departments.

A medical officer at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) told The Daily Star that he has to attend around 200 patients every day between 8:00am and 2:30pm. Which means a doctor can only see a patient for less than two minutes.

"What kind of service can be provided in this short time?" said the on-duty medical officer, adding that even though the number of patients at the outdoor section increased manifold, the number of doctors has not been increased. Since the 70's there are only four medical officers at the outdoor section, there should be at least eight, he said.

The situation at the outdoors of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) is even worse. There is the cabin block outdoor section and the old outdoor section on the two edges of the large hospital, which is confusing for patients as to which outdoor section they should be going.

Osimon Begum, a 70-year-old lady, was found lying on a trolley at the old outdoor section around 1:00pm. She was suffering from brain haemorrhage and was brought to the hospital around five in the morning from a remote village in Naogaon.

Instead of getting emergency medical attention, she was kept in the noisy and suffocating outdoor section for a long time until a doctor was able to see her. The doctor, however, referred her to DMCH straight away since there were no vacant beds in the Neurosurgery section of BSMMU.

Fifteen departments are crammed into the two rather small outdoor sections of BSMMU. They are uninviting, dark, hot and the flow of air inside leaves a lot to be desired.

Many patients feel very uncomfortable there. During the summer the situation worsens and a patient fainting is almost a common scene.

"Who will say this is the top medical institution, where doctors do not even have the environment to serve the patients," said an associate professor at the cabin block outdoor section, adding that some 3,500 patients seek treatment at the two outdoor sections a day and it is really tough to pay attention to the patients properly in such an environment.

The Vice-chancellor of the university Prof Pran Gopal Dutta, however, told The Daily Star that the outdoor sections would be extended within six months and in three to four years' time an outdoor complex would be set up.

The environment of the outdoor section at Mitford Hospital have improved a lot during the last one year. The facilities, however, has not improved keeping pace with the increasing number of patients.

"The number of patients at the outdoor department was nearly 200 on an average day in July, 2007. This has now increased to 800," said the outdoor medicine section resident physician Shasanka Kumar Saha. Only seven people deal with nearly 800 patients, he said.

National Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases, the lone specialised public hospital for cardiac patients, also experiences manpower shortage that affects the quality of service.

Kajal Kumar Karmaker, resident physician of the institute, said, "There are only 13 posts of doctors at the outdoor department to attend to around 400 patients on an average day. This sometimes become impossible and often we have to call in doctors of the hospital to tackle a situation."

On an average day around 375 patients, a significant increase from only a couple of years ago, receive treatment at the outdoor section whereas the number of people working there has remained the same since 1996, he added.

The situations at the outdoor sections of NITORE, Kidney Institute and Cancer Institute are almost identical to those hospitals.

-Mahbuba Zannat