DGHS cracks down on errant clinics, diagnostic centres

Muktijoddha Tower-1, a residential-slash-commercial building in Mohammadpur’s College Gate area, houses five private hospitals and two blood banks on its first to fifth floors, along with a residential hotel.

One of the establishments is Jamuna General Hospital, occupying 10 very small rooms in a portion of the building’s fourth floor.

However, it has been operating with an expired licence since June 2024 and is running 29 beds, exceeding its sanctioned capacity of 20.

Its intensive care unit (ICU) facilities have no dedicated doctors and are run by nurses with support from an on-call physician. No ICU protocols are being followed. The operating theatre (OT) is also in a highly unhygienic condition. Patients are being managed through illegal practices.

The DGHS said about Jamuna General Hospital

Its intensive care unit (ICU) facilities have no dedicated doctors and are run by nurses with support from an on-call physician. No ICU protocols are being followed. The operating theatre (OT) is also in a highly unhygienic condition. Patients are being managed through illegal practices.

Finding these irregularities, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) shut down the hospital’s ICU services yesterday, the first day of its drive against anomalies at private medical facilities.

Four children admitted there were transferred to other hospitals. The hospital authority was asked to show cause within three days about the anomalies.

The DGHS found TG Multispecialty Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in such a horrendous situation that it shut it down.

Two DGHS teams also found various irregularities at three other hospitals and two blood banks in the building: Dhaka Healthcare Hospital and Diagnostic Centre; Prime Orthopaedic and General Hospital and Digital Diagnostic Centre; Royal Multispecialty Hospital and Diagnostic Centre; Radium Blood Bank and TC; and Prime Blood Bank and Transfusion Centre.

“We have visited all facilities at the building and found different kinds of irregularities. We have taken their documents and decided to take different actions upon those,” DGHS Director (Hospital) Abu Hussain Md. Moinul Ahsan told The Daily Star after the drive.

Of the hospitals, the situation at Jamuna General Hospital and TG Multispecialty Hospital and Diagnostic Centre is worse, said Moinul, who led one of the teams.

Besides, one of the hospitals was treating a bullet-wound patient, which it is not authorised to handle as it involves a police matter.

Prime Blood Bank and Transfusion Centre was found closed, although blood banks are required to remain open 24 hours. So, it was shut down, he said, adding that the drive will continue.

The health authorities launched the drive a day after they sealed Doctor’s Care Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Shyamoli over various irregularities.

Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain on Monday led a raid on the private medical facility after private TV channel Jamuna TV aired footage showing an eighth-grade-passed staff member, not a doctor, performing an operation at the hospital.

Following the raid, the minister said drives would be launched against irregularities at private medical facilities from Tuesday.

ANOMALIES APLENTY

Muktijoddha Tower-1 is situated just opposite Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.

Prime Hospital and Prime Blood Bank are located on the first floor of the building, while Royal Hospital and Radium Blood Bank are on the second floor, along with a residential hotel.

Dhaka Healthcare is on the third floor, while Jamuna General Hospital and a section of Royal Hospital are on the fourth floor. TG Hospital is located on the fifth floor.

On a visit to Jamuna Hospital, this correspondent found four children were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital.

Zahirul Islam Ripon took his two-year-old grandson Arif to the hospital from Cumilla’s Burichang Upazila after they could not manage an ICU at any government hospital in Dhaka. Arif has a head infection.

“We came here at 11:00pm yesterday [Monday] but still no doctor visited him. Only nurses work here. Now, after the raid, they are telling us to take him to another hospital,” he added.

Sayem, a staff member of the hospital, said within this limited space, they operate a five-bed neonatal/pediatric ICU, a six-bed ICU, one OT, two general wards with a combined capacity of 12 beds, three cabins for orthopaedic patients, as well as an office room and a pharmacy.

The medical facility’s owner has a pharmacy and he established the hospital in 2018.

Sayem said they charge around Tk 8,000 to 10,000 per day for ICU services.

He claimed they have two permanent doctors and several on-call doctors to provide the services.

But the DGHS team did not find any medical officer there yesterday.

The team found Royal Hospital was running 19 beds, exceeding its sanctioned capacity of 10.  Although the operation theatre is situated on the fifth floor, there is no post-operative room and the hospital is on the second floor.

The sample collection room is very small and the X-ray room was closed. The team shut down diagnosis activities and ordered to show cause within three days.

They also issued a show-cause notice to Dhaka Healthcare and Radium Blood Bank for several anomalies.

Another team did not find any doctor at TG Hospital during the visit and did not find any appointment letter for doctors and nurses. It has been running with an expired licence for three years.

The team shut down the hospital until further notice.

Over at Prime Hospital, there was no specialist in sight to run the ICU. The hospital is providing the service with a medical officer violating the rules. Besides, the hospital admitted patients to the ICU giving false information and overcharging patients with fake voucher.

The team closed down the ICU and the OT and issued a show-cause notice.  It also directed to keep the Prime Blood Bank shut until further notice.

In the evening, the DGHS conducted another drive, led by Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain, in the Chankharpool area of the capital.

Earlier in the day, speaking to journalists at the Secretariat, the minister said the drive would be carried out across the country.