Patients are deprived of proper services at the country's lone public orthopaedic hospital mainly for what insiders described as shortage of manpower and treatment facilities.
Sufferers, however, cited many other problems the Pongu Hospital is hamstrung with.
Although the number of patients has more than doubled in the last 14 years, the capacity of Operating Theatre (OT), post-operative care and wards did not increase proportionately at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), they said.
According to official statistics, currently the hospital receives, on average, 700 patients a day. Of the total, 200 visit emergency and 500 outdoor departments.
The hospital used to receive only 300 patients daily in 2004.
NITOR is also facing acute shortage of third- and fourth-grade staffs including ayas, ward boys, cleaners etc.
The number of nurses is only 286 against the actual need of around 1,000.
The hospital is operating its services with only 216 third- and fourth-grade staffs including 48 ward boys and nine 'ayas'.
As the hospital handles wounded patients, the requirement of 'ayas', ward boys and cleaners is very high.
To provide necessary services, more than 1,000 fourth-grade employees, mainly ayas and ward boys, are needed at the specialised hospital, said officials.
On the other hand, taking advantage of insufficient facilities, a vicious circle has surfaced in the process of health services at the government hospital, sources said.
A section of officials and employees is involved in malpractices. They are taking extra money from the patients at different steps of treatment. Allegations are rife that the medical touts mistreat the patients who fail to provide bribes.
They have also active nexus with middlemen to motivate sending patients to private hospitals or clinics they have a link to, sources said.
However, some patients also complained duty nurses did not provide necessary medicines. Nurses misbehaved with them when they asked for.
Besides, influential reference plays an important part in getting admission, avail beds and OT serial.
The hospital administration remains busy most of the time serving patients who come through references of political leaders, high-profile officials and so.
A top administrative official, who was not willing to disclose his name, said he receives minimum 7 to 8 phone calls from high officials and political persons including ministers, secretaries etc daily.
"There is no way to refuse their requests as it is a government hospital," he said.
So the general patients are deprived of their due treatment, he said.
Monir, father of a patient, told the FE that his son had taken admission 20 days back. He was yet to get OT serial.
He requested the doctors several times but did not get any response.
Another patient who came with knee injury said he had been waiting for a seat in ward for last one and a half months. Many of the patients who took admission after him got beds because of strong lobbying, he added.
NITOR started its journey with 100 beds after the country's liberation to serve wounded freedom fighters. The number of beds was enhanced at different times.
Now it is a 500-bed hospital. The number of patients admitted is more than 600. So the hospital authority is forced to keep extra patients on trolley, said an administrative official.
NITOR recruited 28 members of the staff in 2004. Thereafter, no fourth-grade staff member was included in the hospital's organogram.
The hospital also had made a move to employ 52 staffs in 2014. But the process remained postponed because of complexities stemming from recruitment rules.
When asked, Dr Monaim Hossen, additional director at the NITOR, said if they want to ensure service to the patients, the number of nurses, staffs and other facilities will have to be increased significantly.
He said due to insufficient capacity of wards, they can't provide treatment to the chronic patients. Before completing treatment, they are forced to release the patients.
Many patients wait long for OT serial, he added.
"The crisis will not be resolved properly even after adding 500 more beds as the pressure of orthopaedic patients is increasing day by day following rapid urbanisation in the country," he observed.
However, the hospital has a running project on 500 beds. The project is expected to be completed in 2018. The facilities will increase proportionately against the bed capacity, according to the officials.
