Sending Patients to Pvt Hospitals
Rab detains three DMCH attendants
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday detained three attendants of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after a patient accused another attendant of sending her to a private hospital which, the woman claimed, overcharged her. With acute headache, Sajeda Begum, 28, a garment worker from South Shahjahanpur, visited DMCH yesterday where ward attendant Sheuli coaxed her into going to the nearby Arafat General Hospital and Diagnostic Center in Chankharpool for getting “better treatment”.
The patient said the private hospital collected her urine, blood and did an X-ray and charged her Tk 3,300. Sajeda told The Daily Star that she did not receive proper health services but was ripped off.
On her way back, a dismayed Sajeda spotted a Rab vehicle in Gulistan, and approached the team with her problem. “I told them that the hospital charged more money from me than the normal rate,” she said.
The Rab team notified the Rab personnel stationed at DMCH, who raided the government hospital and identified three attendants who take patients to expensive private hospitals, said sources. The three attendants, whom the victim saw at the private hospital, were later handed over to Shahbagh police. However, Sheuli was not found.
Officer-in-Charge of Shahbagh Police Station Sirajul Islam said she received the three female attendants but no case was filed till filing of this report around 8:00pm.
Dr MA Matin, owner of the private hospital, claimed that they conducted a number of pathological tests and treated Sajeda with an injection and other medicines. And all these costs added up to the amount charged, he said.
DMCH sources said around 20 attendants at the hospital regularly took patients to private hospitals.
-With The Daily Star input
