No service at national eye hospital for second day
All forms of medical services at the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital in Dhaka remained suspended for the second consecutive day yesterday, leaving many patients without care.
Around 150 inpatients have already left the 250-bed facility, while many outpatients were turned away without receiving treatment, according to hospital staff.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The hospital, popularly known as the National Eye Hospital, served around 1,800 outpatients and emergency patients daily, while approximately 40 patients were admitted each day, according to government data from 2023. The number is likely to be higher now.
All services came to a halt after a group of injured July victims who were receiving treatment at the hospital attacked staff members at around 11:00 am on Wednesday. This led to a tripartite clash involving other patients and their attendants.
Some doctors and nurses were injured, and their residences also came under attack, said the hospital's director Khair Ahmed Choudhury.
Police and army personnel later arrived and brought the situation under control. But the hospital staffers, including doctors and nurses, began a work stoppage citing security concerns.
All services remain halted as per instructions from higher authorities and a meeting was held to resolve the crisis, Acting Director Zane Alam also told The Daily Star at 1:45pm yesterday.
"The situation remains unchanged," Khair told The Daily Star at 6:30pm yesterday.
A conducive environment for providing healthcare has not returned, so no staffers, including doctors, have reported to duty.
As a result, all services remain suspended, said Khair, who is currently on a seven-day leave.
Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the health ministry, said they are working to resolve the matter.
But doctors, nurses and other staffers have not joined their work citing security concerns, he added.
Currently, only the injured from the July uprising remain at the hospital, he said.
"We are trying to reach out to the July injured persons and hope the problem will be resolved from tomorrow [today] morning," he told The Daily Star at 7:30pm.
Around 70 injured persons in the July uprising are being treated at the hospital.
They alleged that the hospital authorities are not providing them with proper treatment and indulging in many malpractices.
But doctors and staffers alleged that the injured person often behaved rudely with them and two untoward incidents at the hospital on Monday and Tuesday left them with security concerns.
However, Akhter Hossain, a July victim, denied attacking hospital staff and said they were protesting irregularities at the hospital and the authorities' negligence in their treatment.
He said eight of their fellows were injured when police charged batons on them.
On Monday, four victims injured in the July uprising attempted suicide by consuming poison during a meeting at the hospital.
They were later treated at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.
On Tuesday, the hospital director was confined to his office for about an hour and a half due to alleged infighting between two groups of July victims.
A police team has been deployed at the hospital to avoid any untoward incident, said Imaul Haque, the officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
The hospital treated around 6.45 lakh outpatients and 10,647 emergency patients in 2023, according to the Health Bulletin 2023, published earlier this year by the Directorate General of Health Services.
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