SHARIATPUR, Dec 21: More than 30 different types of private clinics and diagnostic centres established in this small district are doing brisk business, ignoring the rules and regulations in setting up clinics by the government, according to Civil Surgeon office sources.
Illegal clinic business has been affecting the health services in the government hospitals and the poor people are suffering. Most of the pathological clinics, diagnostic centres and other private health services do not have registration from the competent authority.
Babul Miah, owner of Sagorika Diagnostic Centre at Chowrangir Moor in the town, said most of the private health care centres have no licence from the concern authority. As a result, the government is being deprived of a huge amount of revenue collection.
Dr Rajesh Majumder of Shariatpur Sadar Hospital said, most of the private clinics have no permanent doctors to render treatment to the patients, but the owners get the critical patients admitted into the clinics and conduct operation by the un-skilled and non-qualified doctors. As a result, some patients die in the clinics due to the wrong treatment by the doctors.
When contacted, Civil Surgeon of the district Dr. Moshiur Rahman said, he directed upazila health complex officers to keep an eye on the private clinics and diagnostic centres.
He informed that he was absolutely unaware of such private healthcare centres. There are some procedures for setting up a private clinic, but those have been set up in defiance of rules and regulations, he added.
Besides, most of those clinics are running in rented buildings, he also added.
Dr Nirmol Chandra Das, former residential medical officer of Sadar Hospital, said there are no full time doctors in these private clinics rather few doctors render services on contract basis. Almost all the clinics have hung up the signboards of the same physicians. These clinics have no requisite medical apparatus, nurses and technical staffs. X-ray machines have no protection wall. The clinics are not equipped with modern facilities in any respect, the doctor further said.
Abdur Rob Munshi, ex-mayor of Shariatpur Pourashava and Ex-President of District Awami League, told this correspondent that in the private clinics, the specialist surgeon used to visit on contact from Dhaka, Madaripur, Barisal, and Faridpur in order to perform surgical operations. After rendering operation, these surgeons leave the place resulting in that patients are faced with problem in getting post-operative treatment, inexperienced doctors and un-skilled nurses provide treatment to these patients. The people term the clinics as shambles, he opined.
The clinics also do violate the standing order in setting up the beds for the patients. No clinic has post-operative room with hygienic atmosphere and operated patients are allegedly shifted from the operation theatre holding in the hands in the absence of stretcher. Besides, waste gauges and used bandages are being dumped into the vines and roadside causing serious health hazards for the people living in the areas. In fact, the sanitary environment in the clinics is absent, sources said.
Meanwhile, the clinics are charging high fees for contracted surgeon and the brokers who are engaged in the villages to secure the illiterate patients especially the females to bring them into clinics. Some clinic owners are doctors of government hospitals, sources also informed.
Apart from this, pathological laboratories have been running business having no experienced pathologists, radiologists and technicians including modern equipments. As a result, the patients are deprived of the proper diagnosis, which is considered to be threat to the live of the patients, sources added.
According to a reliable source, there are no trained technicians in the private diagnostic centres except the government hospitals. As a result, un-qualified technicians of the labs test urine, blood, stools etc. and prepare reports and the designated pathologists put their signature on the reports as supplied by the technicians.
When contacted, Golam Mostafa, owner of Nipun Clinic and Diagnostic Centre said, they have all documents from the concern authority to run the clinic and give proper treatment to patients.
