Medical services for 1.913 million people (2011 census) in Faridpur district is limping amid an acute shortage of doctors and staff at Faridpur General Hospital, one of the frequently sought after medical destinations.

The hospital was established in 1917 with 20-bed and later it was upgraded to 50-bed in 1985 and finally, it was upgraded to 100-bed in 2002 without arranging adequate manpower, said the hospital sources.

There are only 14 doctors against 37 posts, no sub-service superintendent against one, three pharmacists against four, 14 office assistants against 20, two cooks against six, one ward master against one and eight sweepers against 16 at the hospital, added the sources.

At present, there is no senior consultant at surgery, skin, ENT and orthopaedic departments and no junior consultant at the ophthalmology, cardiology, radiology and pathology departments. The posts have been lying vacant for long.

Besides the posts of anaesthetist, pathologist, radiologist, two sub-registrars at gynaecology department, two sub-registrars at surgery, a sub-registrar at ENT, two sub-registrars at medicine department, two posts of EMO, a medical officer, one blood bank officer and one medical officer (herbal) are also lying vacant.

The current employees also do not perform their duties properly, the patients alleged.

Patients crowd in front of the doctors' chambers while the doctors idle away their time on different excuses, they claimed.

Emergency patients who come to the hospital in the afternoon or at night are often deprived of services.

During a visit to the hospital recently, this correspondent saw at least 120 patients at different wards and many outdoor patients waiting in front of the doctors' chambers.

Some patients and their attendants claimed that medical representatives often visit doctors during duty hours.

Hamidur Rahman Khan, 50, from Manan Mondal Dangi village said, "I have been suffering from fever for two days. So, I came here to visit a doctor and have been waiting in the queue for two hours."

Md Lablu Kabiraj, 40, a resident of Luxmipur area who came to the hospital with his ailing son, said "There are a good number of patients in this hospital. So, we have to wait for long. If the number of doctors was higher, we would not need to wait for longer."

Ganesh Agarwala, residential medical officer (RMO) at Faripdur General Hospital said, "At least 600 patients take treatment outdoor at our hospital daily as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College Hospital was declared Covid-19 dedicated hospital. But we have not enough doctors to extend treatment and handle such a greater number of patients daily."

"Additionally, I would like to add that the hospital quarter was declared abandoned 12 years ago. The consultants do not stay at their quarters at the hospital compound," he added.

Enamul Haque, Civil Surgeon in Faridpur said, "We are suffering a lot for the shortage of doctors and other staffers. We have sent our demand to the higher authorities no steps have been taken yet."