Four die at RMCH without treatment
Interns enforce indefinite strike after clash with attendants of patients
Four patients died without treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) yesterday as interns refused to attend patients after they clashed with attendants of patients and beat one up severely over accusations of neglect.
The row between the interns and the attendants of patients started Wednesday afternoon at around 5:00pm when an attendant and husband of a patient allegedly misbehaved with a female intern--Dr Matuara Sharmin, said sources.
The patient, Sima, 22, was admitted in Ward 16 earlier in the morning on Wednesday with encephalitis and pneumonia complications and the doctors on duty had been neglectful in treating her, claimed her relatives and witnesses. Sima's husband Shahabul Islam, a prison guard at Chapainawabganj district jail, along with another guard from the same jail, Ibrahim, approached Dr Sharmin and demanded urgent medical attention for Sima as her condition was deteriorating with profuse bleeding through her nose, added the sources.
A mob of interns and nurses suspended their duties, rushed to the scene and locked in heated arguments with Sima's attendants. At one stage, the interns started to beat up Shahabul, his mother Rizia Khatun, mother-in-law Noor Jahan Begum and a relative Rina. Police later rescued Shahabul and his relatives from the fury of the interns.
As the interns refrained from work seeking Shahabul's punishment, RMCH director Brig Bazle Quader rushed to the hospital at around 6:00pm. He called up Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and handed Shahabul over to them, said witnesses.
Rab members knocked Shahabul to the ground and beat him up mercilessly, said prison officials and witnesses.
He was taken to Rajshahi Jail Hospital in a critical condition with his limbs fractured, said Maj Hafiz, DIG Prison Rajshahi. "We will take necessary punitive actions against Shahabul for what he did, but who will be responsible for his wife's death and [look after] her two children?" he added.
Many patients were seen leaving the hospital yesterday morning after failing to receive any care as four patients had died without any medical care earlier between 12:00am and 6:30am. Sima died at around 6:20am.
The other three dead are Kohinur from Ward 5, Fazlur Rahman from Ward 26 and Madhu.
Sima's body was not released to her relatives until journalists and police intervened at 11:00am.
At around 11:30 in the morning, RMCH interns brought out processions and declared an indefinite strike demanding their security in the hospital.
Sima and Shahabul's five-year-old daughter Zakia and two-year-old son Saifullah were seen crying in front of Rajshahi Jail Hospital, jail hospital sources said adding that Shahabul was yet to be informed of his wife's death.
RMCH Director Bazle Quader refused to talk to journalists over the matter. He earlier barred the journalists from entering the hospital premises since March.
Dr Bulbul Hossain, spokesman for the RMCH director, quoted the director as saying that the situation turned worse when Shahabul categorically denied any fault after assaulting Dr Sharmin while she was busy attending another patient.
Following an emergency meeting with hospital employees, the RMCH director around 6:00pm yesterday issued a notice in the hospital saying the interns' strike is in violation of the rules of the state of emergency and told the interns to resume work immediately.
He also threatened the interns with legal actions if they failed to comply.
Following the issuance of the notice, a number of interns resumed work around 12:00am today.
Sima's mother Noor Jahan Begum filed a case with Rajpara Police Station accusing a number of anonymous persons including RMCH staff and interns on duty on Wednesday night at Ward 16 for the death of her daughter, negligence of duty and beating up attendants of a patient, police said.
Preparations for filing two other cases were underway, added police.
RMCH interns lodged a general diary with the same police station for assault on Dr Matuara Sarmin.
Comments
Post a Comment