Now, Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD), has sent a letter to the ministry of health to recover those machines.
CMSD oversees the procurement of health ministry.
The machines which are being searched are two dialysis machines, two ICU ventilators, two dialysis bed band and one water treatment plant distilled.
An informed source told Prothom Alo that the dialysis machines cost around Tk 5.4 million, ventilators Tk 3.6 million, dialysis beds Tk 350,000. The source could not confirm the price of water treatment plant.
The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing two branches of Regent Hospital (Uttara and Mirpur) to treat COVID-19 patients. But the hospital was not qualified for the job and they did not even have license to operate.
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Flouting the contract, the hospital started to collect samples charging people and deliver certificates without even carrying out tests of the collected samples.
Later, the two branches of the hospital were sealed off following complaints.
As the hospitals are currently sealed off, the valuable machines would be damaged due to disuse, said the CMSD director’s letter.
Moreover, it is unacceptable and unethical that illegal hospitals use these instruments procured by public funding, the letter added.
Underscoring the need to bring back those machines form Regent Hospitals, CMSD director also said the valuable equipment can be supplied to government hospitals if recovered.
Copies of the ‘urgent’ letter were sent to prime minister’s principal secretary, principal coordinator of PMO, director general of DGHS and director (hospital) of DGHS.
Deputy director (hospital) of DGHS Eunus Ali told Prothom Alo that he has no idea if any instruments were given to Regent Hospitals.
But the government can provide considering the interest of people, he added.
DGHS signed the MoU with Regent Hospital on 21 March. But there was no mention of supplying equipment for free in the contract.
The MoU, on the other hand, boosted how efficient Regent Hospital was and how noble its initiative was.
RAB magistrate Sarwar Alam, who led the drives in the hospitals, told Prothom Alo that they will bring out the machines from the hospitals contacting the concerned authorities.
But he could not recount to see any dialysis machine during the drives.
Regent Hospital’s owner Md Shahed alias Shahed Karim admitted his ailing father at a private hospital in Mohakhali as his hospitals did not have dialysis machine.
A RAB source suspects that Shahed might have sell the two dialysis machines.