Khulna University medical centre

Students decry poor healthcare services

Khulna University Medical Centre despite having inadequate doctors, medicine, equipment and other logistics has failed to ensure healthcare facilities, lamented students of the university.
They complained that they have to wait for hours to see a doctor in the medical centre though it has seven modern physicians for about 6,500 students, teachers, officials and employees.
Urban and Rural Planning student Akhter Hossain, while waiting for a doctor in front of his chamber in the medical centre, said that he had been waiting for half an hour, but failed to see a doctor.  Students said that absence of doctors in duty rooms usually creates a long queue in the medical centre.
According to sources at the medical centre, alongside the university, the medical centre began its journey in 1991 at a room of old Academic Bhaban which was later shifted to the present location.
The tin-shed building, which was former gymnasium for students, has become almost unusable due to damp and unhealthy condition for a long time.    The medical centre is continuing its services and on an average, about 50-70 patients visit the centre every day, said Assistant Registrar of the medical centre SM Mohummad Ali. He alleged, “The university’s endowment from the University Grants Commission (UGC) keeps increasing every year, but the medical centre’s development remains neglected.”
Currently, the centre is staffed by seven doctors but no nurses, with an inventory of three beds and two ambulances to serve around 6,500 students, teachers, officials and employees.
The state of laboratory equipment of the centre is woeful, with only one photo-electronic colour machine, a fridge, a microscope, an analyzer, a hot air machine, conventional X-ray machines that can provide only primary services, said section officer (lab) Md Nazrul Islam.  He said, “Only 20 types of normal tests are carried out at the centre; but no critical test, due to lack of adequate machineries.”
There is no ultrasound machine in it.
The doctors in the centre are unable to provide requisite treatment due to  lack of machineries, he added.  Besides erroneous tests are common occurrences.  Some patients alleged that to make the matter worse, the students are forced to take diagnoses from the pharmacists, as most of the time doctors stay out of the campus.
Chief Medical Officer of the centre Dr Kanij Fahmida, however, said that those machines were sufficient for providing the students with their problems. Responding to a question related to the doctors’ absence, she said that the patients had to wait as doctors need to attend calls from different halls and residents. Chief Compounder Ganash Chandro Paul said, “The pharmacy of the centre itself is pitifully short of stocks, supplying only 22-27 types of common medicines. Realising this, students often prefer buying their medicine from outside to getting it free from the centre’s pharmacy.”  Agro-technology student Md Tofat said that often they had to buy medicines from drugstores outside as the centre failed to supply all of the prescribed medicines.
Assistant Registrar of medical centre Mohummad Ali said that there was no doctor of cardiology, child specialist, eye specialist and ear-nose-throat problems.  And the part-time doctors provide only one to two hour service every day.
The chief medical officer Dr Fahmida, however, said that it was not a problem actually.
“There is a schedule for part-time doctors; so the patients can visit the hospital according to schedule,” she said, adding that the centre could not provide necessary healthcare as it suffered from adequate allocations. c“Only Tk six lakh has been allocated for the medical centre each year,” she said further. Vice Chancellor of KU Prof Dr Md Fayek Uzzaman said that they are aware of the matter and have already requested the UGC, Dhaka for several times to take steps to build a new building.
But no measure has been taken so far by the UGC to resolve the problem in this regard, he added.

Khulna University medical centre

Students decry poor healthcare services

Khulna University Medical Centre despite having inadequate doctors, medicine, equipment and other logistics has failed to ensure healthcare facilities, lamented students of the university. They complained that they have to wait for hours to see a doctor in the medical centre though it has seven modern physicians for about 6,500 students, teachers, officials and employees. Urban and Rural Planning student Akhter Hossain, while waiting for a doctor in front of his chamber in the medical centre, said that he had been waiting for half an hour, but failed to see a doctor. Students said that absence of doctors in duty rooms usually creates a long queue in the medical centre. According to sources at the medical centre, alongside the university, the medical centre began its journey in 1991 at a room of old Academic Bhaban which was later shifted to the present location. The tin-shed building, which was former gymnasium for students, has become almost unusable due to damp and unhealthy condition for a long time. The medical centre is continuing its services and on an average, about 50-70 patients visit the centre every day, said Assistant Registrar of the medical centre SM Mohummad Ali. He alleged, The universitys endowment from the University Grants Commission (UGC) keeps increasing every year, but the medical centres development remains neglected. Currently, the centre is staffed by seven doctors but no nurses, with an inventory of three beds and two ambulances to serve around 6,500 students, teachers, officials and employees. The state of laboratory equipment of the centre is woeful, with only one photo-electronic colour machine, a fridge, a microscope, an analyzer, a hot air machine, conventional X-ray machines that can provide only primary services, said section officer (lab) Md Nazrul Islam. He said, Only 20 types of normal tests are carried out at the centre; but no critical test, due to lack of adequate machineries. There is no ultrasound machine in it. The doctors in the centre are unable to provide requisite treatment due to lack of machineries, he added. Besides erroneous tests are common occurrences. Some patients alleged that to make the matter worse, the students are forced to take diagnoses from the pharmacists, as most of the time doctors stay out of the campus. Chief Medical Officer of the centre Dr Kanij Fahmida, however, said that those machines were sufficient for providing the students with their problems. Responding to a question related to the doctors absence, she said that the patients had to wait as doctors need to attend calls from different halls and residents. Chief Compounder Ganash Chandro Paul said, The pharmacy of the centre itself is pitifully short of stocks, supplying only 22-27 types of common medicines. Realising this, students often prefer buying their medicine from outside to getting it free from the centres pharmacy. Agro-technology student Md Tofat said that often they had to buy medicines from drugstores outside as the centre failed to supply all of the prescribed medicines. Assistant Registrar of medical centre Mohummad Ali said that there was no doctor of cardiology, child specialist, eye specialist and ear-nose-throat problems. And the part-time doctors provide only one to two hour service every day. The chief medical officer Dr Fahmida, however, said that it was not a problem actually. There is a schedule for part-time doctors; so the patients can visit the hospital according to schedule, she said, adding that the centre could not provide necessary healthcare as it suffered from adequate allocations. cOnly Tk six lakh has been allocated for the medical centre each year, she said further. Vice Chancellor of KU Prof Dr Md Fayek Uzzaman said that they are aware of the matter and have already requested the UGC, Dhaka for several times to take steps to build a new building. But no measure has been taken so far by the UGC to resolve the problem in this regard, he added.