Some 238 medical equipment at three major government hospitals of the country have turned out of order and many of these cannot be used.
Besides, four ambulances have been kept idle. Top Level Electrosurgical Unit
Such a sorry state of government hospitals was found after analysing the data from the Directorate General of Health Services.
The three hospitals are - Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital.
As per the assessment of the hospital authorities and the medical apparatus supplying agencies, the damaged equipment in these hospitals worth at least Tk 1 billion
These three hospitals submitted a list of the equipment in a meeting held at the health services management unit of the DGHS two weeks ago. The list includes 19 types of medical apparatus including ambulances.
Moreover, the numbers of the damaged and irreparable equipment as well as the machines which are operational were separately mentioned in the list.
However, these three hospitals own many more apparatus. There are reports that several of the apparatus, which were mentioned as “operational” in the list, were actually out of service.
For instance, the list says that the MRI machine at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital was shown operational in the list. However, that was not the case in reality.
Visiting the hospital on Monday, all MRI machines were found out of order. On the other hand, three dialysis machines and an ICU ventilator machine at the Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital are broken at the moment. However, the scenario was not depicted in the list submitted to the DGHS.
The majority of the corruption related to the health sector revolves around the purchase and use of medical equipment. There are many cases where the equipment is purchased though it was not needed. Again, when this equipment gets damaged, the concerned persons do not take any initiative to repair it, showing different excuses.
Prothom Alo tried to reach the DGHS director and the secretary of the Health Services Division over the phone for their comment in this regard. However, they didn’t respond.
The list includes some 19 types of equipment, including x-ray machine, ECG machine, ultrasound machine, operation theatre (OT) table, OT light (portable), diathermy machine, sucker machine, Anesthesia machine, autoclave machine, dental device, oxygen cylinder, oxygen concentration, nebuliser, angiogram device, MRI machine, city scan machine and oxygen generator as well as ambulance.
The number of defective equipment is the highest at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Some 149 of the medical equipment at the biggest medical institution of the country are out of order. According to the data of the DGHS, most of these equipment are irreparable.
The number of defective apparatus is comparatively low at the Mitford hospital. The number of damaged devices at this hospital is 38. Three of them have become irreparable. The number is 51 at the Suhrawardy Medical College. Three of these equipment at this hospital are not repairable any more.
The Dhaka Medical College Hospital has some 12 ambulances to serve the patients. Two of these ambulances are not in the service at the moment, including an irreparable one.
Of the four ambulances of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical Hospital, one has been completely damaged and is irreparable now. The situation at the Mitford Hospital is a bit better as compared to the other two institutions. It has four ambulances including a damaged one. However, that out of order ambulance can still be repaired.
Speaking to Prothom Alo regarding the out of order equipment, Brigadier General Nazmul Haque, director of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said, “There are some machines which were purchased long ago. Most of these machines have expired. Therefore, it would not be prudent to use those machines. However, the process to declare an apparatus out of order is long and complicated. As a result, the process is often ignored. Therefore, the list of unused equipment looks long.”
However, Brigadier General Rashid-un-Nabi told Prothom Alo, “I am highly cautious about the equipment. As soon as equipment go out of order, I take initiative to repair it immediately. Therefore, the number of damaged devices is low at my hospital.”
According to machinery suppliers and hospital authorities, the cheapest hospital machinery is oxygen concentrator – Tk 100,000 – and the costliest one is MRI machine – Tk 170 million. However, the Shaheed Suhrawardi Medical College Hospital bought its MRI machine at Tk 190 million.
The price of all the malfunctioned machinery totalled Tk 1.18 billion in a conservative estimate, excluding four ambulances.
The vehicles could not be evaluated through any of the proper channels. Officials at government and private hospitals said an ambulance generally costs Tk 2.5 to 3 million.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) has a total of 2,600 beds, but it admits 1.5 times higher numbers of patients than its capacity. Also, around 6,000 patients receive medical services at the outdoor department daily.
Apart from general treatment, the DMCH offers specialised treatment for various diseases. The emergency ward remains in operation round the clock all over the year and provides service to around 1,000 patients daily. There is a belief among the people that the DMCH can treat a patient even after the failure of all others.
There are 1,350 beds in Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital. Around 2,000 patients receive treatment at its outdoor department daily. The Mitford Hospital has 900 beds and it treats about 3,000 patients in the outdoor department daily. Also, around 600 patients receive treatment at the emergency ward.
A large number of patients come to these three hospitals with a hope of treatment but are being deprived of the desired service so often due to malfunction of machineries.
The DMCH is no longer carrying out MRI tests. DMCH director Brigadier General Nazmul Haque said, “It is very sad to say that many patients have to go to other hospitals for this test.”
The scenario is similar at Suhrawardy Hospital. Its director Khalilur Rahman told Prothom Alo that the MRI testing service is unavailable at the hospital for two years due to defective machine.
The two hospitals used to charge Tk 2,000 for the MRI test. But the patients are now undergoing the tests at private hospitals at Tk 6,000.
Also, physicians at the hospitals cannot provide proper medical services as the surgery wards lack 10 OT tables and 12 OT lights.
Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said the costly health equipment are often bought in collusion with others. The equipment do not receive any importance for maintenance that it gets during purchase. Also, many devices remain unused.
Electrosurgical Units All these happen due to a lack of accountability, said the anti-graft watchdog executive.