Patients suffer as docs on strike in 2 districts
Indefinite strike by doctors at government hospitals and private clinics in Panchagarh and at Jessore General Hospital is causing immense sufferings to hundreds of patients.
In Panchagarh, doctors at all government hospitals and private clinics in the district began an indefinite strike on Thursday night at the call of Bangladesh Medical Association district unit following arrest of a medical officer of Panchagarh Mother and Child Welfare Center the same night, reports our correspondent.
Police arrested the medical officer, Akhter Jahan, at around 9:00pm after filing of a case filed by a relative of a patient who died at Mother and Child Welfare Center Thursday evening due to alleged neglect of the doctor.
Tahera Begum, 20, wife of Jahedul Islam of Sitagram village under Sadar upazila, was brought to the medical center with labour pain on Thursday morning.
After admission, she remained unattended by any doctor till evening. At around 6:00pm, a nurse of the center pushed an injection to Tahera following instruction of Dr Akhter Jahan, said relatives of the patient.
After 10 minutes of pushing the injection, she became unconscious. Sensing something wrong, the doctor ordered to shift the patient to Panchagarh Sadar Hospital in the ambulance of the centre without saying anything to the patient's attendants, sources said.
Tahera was rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared her dead
As the news spread, patient's relatives and hundreds of people besieged the medical centre demanding arrest of and punishment to the doctor responsible.
At aound 9:00pm, Panchagarh Sadar police arrested Dr Akhter Jahan following a murder case filed by victim's father-in-law Ishaque Ali and produced her in the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court Friday morning. The court sent Dr Jahan to jail.
BMA Panchagarh unit said they will continue their strike until Dr Jahan is released.
Local leaders, elite and NGO workers formed a human chain in the town on Friday demanding exemplary punishment to Dr Jahan. Addressing a rally at the venue, the speakers alleged that several death incidents had earlier occurred at the center due to the doctor's wrong treatment.
At Jessore General Hospital, doctors continued their work abstention for the fourth consecutive day yesterday protesting assault of a doctor and ransacking of a room at the hospital by the relatives of a patient on the night of June 16, according to a correspondent.
However, the doctors of the hospital yesterday provided treatment to the patients at the outpatient department for two hours.
Azima Mubin Sathi, younger sister of local journalist Shikder Khalid, died at the hospital on the night due to alleged neglect of the duty doctors.
Later, relatives of the patient assaulted a duty doctor and ransacked
a room of the hospital. Local journalists also brought out a procession in Jessore town the following day demanding arrest and punishment of the doctors responsible.
About 50 percent of the admitted patients have already left the hospital as they are not getting treatment. Some patients alleged they have taken treatment at private clinics from those doctors who refused to attend to them at the hospital in the name of strike.
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