Unused capacities at public hospitals

That the quality of health care has improved in the public hospitals of the country is evident from the services rendered at different hospitals, including the ones in the capital city. A sense of duty-mindedness on the whole  appears to be there nowadays among the doctors and others along with the physical  expansion of the hospitals located in different places of the country. Deaths  of patients due to negligence of doctors at hospitals  made newspaper headlines in the past. Recently this sort of incident is heard few and far between. Even the remote upazila health complexes of the country are equipped with necessary machines and medical equipments and doctors are under greater pressure to shun absenteeism.
But the above are not to say there are no major deficiencies in the functioning of the public health care system. For example, a report that appeared in a daily newspaper yesterday said 42 per cent of the medical equipment, allegedly procured through irregularities at the government hospitals, are remaining out of use. The report stated that a modern MRI machine  was procured at  a cost of Tk 22 crore for the Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital in the capital city  about two months ago, but the patients are not getting any service from it, as the complexity over the purchase of the machine remains unresolved. It is learnt from the health ministry that investigation revealed irregularities in the purchase of the Hitachi company machine while on this charge the director of this hospital was suspended and the bill of the supplier of the machine was withheld. Reportedly, a large number of medical equipment at the medical colleges across the country including the specialized government hospitals in Dhaka, the district headquarters hospitals and the upazila health complexes also remain out of order or inoperative due to various complications. Amid this situation, the purchase of new equipment is reportedly  going on with  money from the government exchequer or received from different donor agencies including the World Bank.
Needless to say, the  equipment  not yet put into operation should be made operative immediately. Those gone out of order should be repaired and made operative also. Trained hands for operating the same should also be appointed. On the other hand, the irregularities identified in purchasing the medical equipment should be removed and action taken for ensuring transparency in this regard. In sum, utilizing of  the total capacity of the public hospitals  must be ensured. 

Unused capacities at public hospitals

That the quality of health care has improved in the public hospitals of the country is evident from the services rendered at different hospitals, including the ones in the capital city. A sense of duty-mindedness on the whole appears to be there nowadays among the doctors and others along with the physical expansion of the hospitals located in different places of the country. Deaths of patients due to negligence of doctors at hospitals made newspaper headlines in the past. Recently this sort of incident is heard few and far between. Even the remote upazila health complexes of the country are equipped with necessary machines and medical equipments and doctors are under greater pressure to shun absenteeism. But the above are not to say there are no major deficiencies in the functioning of the public health care system. For example, a report that appeared in a daily newspaper yesterday said 42 per cent of the medical equipment, allegedly procured through irregularities at the government hospitals, are remaining out of use. The report stated that a modern MRI machine was procured at a cost of Tk 22 crore for the Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital in the capital city about two months ago, but the patients are not getting any service from it, as the complexity over the purchase of the machine remains unresolved. It is learnt from the health ministry that investigation revealed irregularities in the purchase of the Hitachi company machine while on this charge the director of this hospital was suspended and the bill of the supplier of the machine was withheld. Reportedly, a large number of medical equipment at the medical colleges across the country including the specialized government hospitals in Dhaka, the district headquarters hospitals and the upazila health complexes also remain out of order or inoperative due to various complications. Amid this situation, the purchase of new equipment is reportedly going on with money from the government exchequer or received from different donor agencies including the World Bank. Needless to say, the equipment not yet put into operation should be made operative immediately. Those gone out of order should be repaired and made operative also. Trained hands for operating the same should also be appointed. On the other hand, the irregularities identified in purchasing the medical equipment should be removed and action taken for ensuring transparency in this regard. In sum, utilizing of the total capacity of the public hospitals must be ensured.