49 hospitals awarded

Forty-nine hospitals across Bangladesh have been awarded for toning up their services within a given time.

Styled the ‘Health Minister National Award’, introduced this year to "inspire hospitals to improve their services", was given away on Sunday.

The awards go out to hospital authorities in national and district civil surgeon categories.

Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital topped in the tertiary hospital category, while the Faridpur Medical College Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital were joint runners-up.

The MIS of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) monitored 496 hospitals across Bangladesh between Aug and Dec last year.

Earlier, a survey had identified eight areas in which hospitals could improve services without increasing budget and manpower.

Those were: cleanliness, staff presence, placing display boards in proper places, regular follow-up and interaction with staff, sending data electronically to the centre, gardening, waste management, and shortening waiting time at outdoors.

“We followed who could do best at least in four of those eight sections in four months,” said MIS Chief Prof Abul Kalam Azad.

He said they had monitored those hospitals using online tools and later health ministry committees inspected them and finalised the list.

“It's to encourage them (hospital administrators),” Prof Azad told bdnews24.com and that the award would be continued.

The minister handed over the awards to hospital authorities at a ceremony in Dhaka.

Nasim, who has been talking tough against wrong-doers in the health sector since he took the charge last month, said he would also award “good performers”.