BIRDEM doctors on strike

Doctors at BIRDEM have stopped working in protest against an alleged assault on a doctor and vandalism in the hospital by relatives of a patient who died there.

In a media statement on Tuesday, the doctors of the 600-bed multidisciplinary hospital said they would not treat patients until the ‘attackers’ were brought to book.

But its emergency room, Coronary Care Unit (CCU) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) would be in operation, the doctors said.

The hospital employs about 450 doctors. The outdoor section, which runs from 8am to 2pm, treats three to four thousand patients every day.

The health minister has spoken to the state minister for home and asked him to take action against those responsible in order to resolve the crisis.

According to the doctors, relatives of a patient, Sirajul Islam, assaulted a female doctor and vandalised the 14th floor of the hospital after he died on Sunday night.

Two staff members were injured when they tried to stop the angry relatives.

The doctors said they had refrained from staging protests on Monday, since it was Pahela Baishakh – the first day of the Bangla New Year.

But they formed a human chain at Shahbagh, blocking traffic on the street in front of the hospital from 10am to 11am on Tuesday, said OC Mohammad Shirajul Islam of Shahbagh Police.

The doctors were angry and determined to get justice, said a bdnews24.com correspondent reporting from the spot.

He said the hospital would not admit new patients and was treating just those who were already under its care.

The doctors were rallying to protest against one 'ASP Masud' who they say was responsible for the assault on the doctor.

Senior Medical Officer Anwarul Islam said the strike would continue until the police and the patient’s relatives who carried out the attack were brought to book.

BIRDEM’s board of directors has called the doctors to a meeting at 10pm on Wednesday. Dr. Islam said decisions about further actions would be taken at that meeting.

The hospital’s Director General Prof Nazmun Nahar said the hospital authorities had spoken to senior police officials about the incident.

“Hopefully, the problem will be resolved at the meeting tomorrow (Wednesday),” she said.

She said the patients already admitted to the hospital had not been affected by the strike.

At the hospital, bdnews24.com correspondent found the doctors at an agitated state. No new patients were being admitted but those already admitted were receiving treatment.

The relatives of several patients, however, alleged that the doctors had discharged the patients ‘forcefully’.

Iqbal, a relative of patient Sekandar Ali from Dinajpur, told bdnews24.com, “We were forcefully handed a discharge certificate before any treatment.”

The health ministry in a media release said Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim had spoken to State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on the phone about the incident.

The release said he had requested the junior minister to immediately arrest the persons responsible and bring them to justice.

Bangladesh Medical Association President Mahmud Hasan and Secretary General Iqbal Arslan led a delegation to the health minister to speak about the incident.