Pirojpur, Patuakhali: Hospitals overrun with patients

The major hospitals in Pirojpur and Patuakhali districts are finding it difficult to cope with the onrush of patients amid the sweltering heat since mid-April.

At Pirojpur District Hospital, many patients were seen receiving treatment on the floors and balconies.

According to the district hospital sources, the number of admitted patients is more than double the capacity of 100 beds. Among the patients, most were children.

The child ward was treating around three patients against each of the 18 available beds.

According to the civil surgeon's office, a total of 22,243 patients received treatment at the outpatient department while 5,757 took emergency services at Pirojpur District Hospital in the last couple of weeks alone.

Mohammad Rubel from Indurkani upazila, said, "My daughter has been suffering from fever for the last few days. I took her to a local doctor several times but her condition did not improve. So, I came to the hospital to get her treated."

"Children are mostly falling ill due to the heatwave. Many are coming with diarrhoea, urinary complications, nausea, loss of appetite, fever, cold and cough," said Rajib Paik, medical officer at the hospital.

He suggested all to make sure their children remain hydrated and keep them in a cool environment.

Pirojpur Civil Surgeon Md Mizanur Rahman said they have enough supply of medicines to treat the patients.

Meanwhile, a similar situation was witnessed at the Patuakhali Medical College Hospital (PMCH).

At present, it is failing to accommodate the large number of patients, most of them being children suffering from diarrhoea and pneumonia.

At present, there are a total of 589 patients admitted to the hospital against the 250 beds available. At the child ward, there are three child patients against each bed.

Doctors and nurses were seen struggling to treat so many patients simultaneously.

According to hospital sources, a total 235 patients were admitted with diarrhoea and more than 100 with pneumonia in the last week alone.

Husaifa, Jannati and Tahmina, three children were seen sharing one bed while receiving treatment.

Of them, two were suffering from seizures and one from fever.

Jannati's mother Rashida Begum said she got her daughter admitted two days back and she has been sharing the bed with two other patients as there are no available beds.

Meanwhile, around 70 diarrhoea patients were seen being treated on the hospital floors as the number of patients was much higher compared to the 23 available beds.

"There are 140 patients against 48 beds in the child ward. It is a difficult situation for both the patients and the caregivers, amid the sweltering heat and occasional power outages. We are trying our best to treat all the patients," said Dr Md Ahiduzzaman Shamim, assistant professor of Patuakhali Medical College and a doctor of the hospital's pediatric department.

According to Patuakhali Civil Surgeon's Office sources, a total 919 patients were hospitalised with diarrhoea in the district in the last one week.

Dr Dilruba Yasmin Liza, superintendent of PMCH, said there is no shortage of saline at the hospital to treat the patients.