Though hospital is a place where hygiene is given utmost priority, upon visiting Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal, the notion will change completely.

Nazma Akthar, 40, from Kirtipasha in Barisal, got admitted to the female medicine ward of the hospital a few days ago. After staying at the hospital, her only concern was the appalling sanitation facilities there.

Like Nazma, most of the patients in the hospital are worried about the poor sanitation facilities as it is the lone specialised hospital in Barisal division.

Around 1,500 to 1,800 patients stay regularly for treatment in the 1,000-bed hospital which was established in 1964. The five-storey hospital building has 300 toilets and 150 bathrooms under 32 wards, said SM Serajul Islam, director of the hospital.

All the toilets and bathrooms of the hospital are unclean and unusable. They are left in utter negligence but patients and their attendants are bound to use them as they do not have any alternative, said many patients in different wards.

Most of the doors of the toilets are broken and some have no doors at all. A person has to stand guard outside the toilets when someone goes inside, said Sharmin Aktar, a patient attendant of the obstetrics ward.

Many of them said they even try to eat and drink less so that they do not have to use the filthy toilets frequently.

“I am trying my best to control myself from going to those dirty and damp washrooms but tolerating the pressure of urination for a long time is quite tough,” said Shova Rani who is undergoing treatment at female medicine ward of the hospital.

“Besides, there is a shortage of water,” she added.

“We have to carry water from a tube-well on the ground floor as the hospital authorities supply water once a day,” said Nitai of Barisal Sadar who came to the obstetrics ward for his wife's treatment.

There are no soaps in the toilets let alone toilet papers. All of them have squat toilets with no flush, which made it almost impossible for pregnant women and patients with fractured legs to use them, he added.

“We do not have enough money to go to private hospitals having comparatively better sanitation facilities,” said Salma Aktar who came to the hospital from Jhalakathi for her treatment.

Admitting the facts, the hospital director said, “Water crisis is acute in the hospital as the only water pump is very old and not able enough to pump out water more than once.”

“To supply water more than once we need to replace the old pump with a high-powered one,” he said.

There are 90 cleaners in the hospital but 30 of them are working as fourth-class staff as 250 fourth-class posts of the hospital are vacant now, said the director.

Usually the cleaners work in three shifts every day. As the number of cleaners against a large number of toilets is not enough, a cleaner has to work double shifts once in a week, he added.

“Unhygienic washrooms in hospitals are largely responsible for infectious diseases, like typhoid and diarrhoea. We are trying our best to provide better sanitation facilities but often times it becomes difficult due to our limited resources,” said the director.

“I have informed the health ministry about the problems regarding sanitation facilities in our hospital. A budget will soon be allocated to solve these problems,” he further said.