KALIGANJ, GAZIPUR, Mar 7: A surprise visit by Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain Bokul at Kaliganj Upazila Health Complex on Saturday uncovered the absence of several doctors and officials, irregularities in leave approval, and multiple shortcomings in hospital services.
The minister arrived at the hospital around 10 am without prior notice. Hospital activities were continuing as usual when a white vehicle accompanied by police protocol entered the premises. After getting out of the vehicle, the minister went directly inside the hospital and asked staff about the office of the Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer.
When he entered the office, he found the responsible official, Dr Rezwana Rashid, absent. Staff present there could not clearly explain her absence. Later, acting statistician Mohammad Kazi Nazmul Haque said the officer was on leave.
The minister asked to see the leave application, but only a scanned copy was shown, which did not contain the approval of the district civil surgeon. He then collected the doctors' attendance register and sat in the conference room to verify attendance. During the inspection, four doctors were found absent and no leave applications for them could be produced.
After hearing about the minister's sudden visit, several doctors rushed to the hospital around 10:30am. When asked about their late arrival, they gave various explanations, and some later apologised to the minister.
Shortly afterwards, Dr Rezwana Rashid also arrived at the hospital. When asked about her absence, she said she was ill and on leave. However, she could only show a copy of the leave application that lacked approval from the civil surgeon. Moreover, while she claimed illness, the application mentioned family issues as the reason for leave. She later apologised to the minister.
During the inspection, the minister visited male and female wards and spoke with admitted patients about the treatment they were receiving. He expressed dissatisfaction after finding no handwash or soap in the ward washrooms and asked authorities why such basic facilities were not available despite having budget allocations.
The minister also spoke with patients waiting in the outpatient department, who raised several complaints about healthcare services. He noted the complaints and listened to the demands of hospital staff. He later inspected the hospital pharmacy.
Speaking to journalists, Sakhawat Hossain Bokul said, surprise inspections would continue across government hospitals. "Hospitals will no longer be inspected with prior notice. If any irregularities are found, immediate departmental action will be taken," he said.
He added that doctors and staff must remain present at their workplaces on time and that the practice of living in Dhaka while working in rural hospitals would no longer be tolerated.
