Patients at Dhaka Medical College Hospital pay extra fees at almost every stage in order to get hospital services, a TIB report says.
They pay fees on account of using a bed Tk 100-300, getting information about the newborns Tk 50-100, releasing the newborns Tk 100-1000, using the trolley Tk 50-200, shifting patient from one place to another Tk 50-100, receiving blood and X-Ray reports quickly Tk 50-300 and Tk 100-300 respectively, obtaining serial earlier than other waiting patients Tk 500-1000, inserting catheter Tk 50-100, availing ambulance facilities Tk 100-200 and securing gatepass Tk 20.
This was revealed in a research report of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Monday.
A roundtable discussion titled “Dhaka Medical College Hospital: Progress in Good Governance, Challenges and Way Forward” was organised in this connection at the BIAM Auditorium in the city.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Khondokar Mohammad Sifayet Ullah was present as the chief guest while Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) director Brigadier General Mustafizur Rahman attended as special guest. TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman chaired the session.
The research was carried out between April 2010 and August 2013. TIB researcher Taslima Akter presented the findings.
In the report it was found that although the tertiary level medical college hospital has been upgraded from 500 bed to 2300 bed, it still provides treatment to 800 patients only.
According to the report, the hospital has class III staffs four times more than the required number and 20 cooks cook food for 250 patients thrice daily. There are allegations that bribes were taken during the recruitment process of class III and class IV employees and quota system was not followed during this time. The report observed that corruption has been institutionalized in DMCH as there are irregularities in recruiting human resources, stealing of the medicines and machineries and realization of money from the patients unethically.
The report identified seven barriers in the way of establishing good governance in Dhaka Medical College Hospital. These are: lack of long-term planning, transparency, dillydallying, supervision, accountability and monitoring, absence of regular transfer of the staffs and designated information officer. These result in deprivation of the public seeking healthcare services and incurring huge financial losses as the authority runs the hospital with inadequate infrastructure and skilled manpower to provide quality services.
TIB made 12 suggestions for the hospital authority and 10 for the policymakers enabling the director to spend 25 per cent of the users fees for improvement of services of the hospital and formulate a plan for next 30 years.
In his speech, Sifayet Ullah said the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended 14 per cent allocation in the national budget whereas Bangladesh has 6.24 per cent in the current 2013-14 budget.
“The health budget has been shrinking gradually although it is supposed to be increased. We are trying to provide health services within this limited resources,” he said.
He said the ration of doctors, nurses and paramedics should be 1:3:6 while Bangladesh has the opposite scenario.
Criticising the present trend of constructing healthcare infrastructure, he said it is interesting that the buildings are constructed so quickly while it has become a challenge for the ministry to furnish them.
Brig Gen Mustafiz said there is no guideline for handling the staffs in the healthcare system which should be rectified. Besides, the bureaucratic tangles and limitations of laws of recruitment makes the management of the hospital difficult.
