Hospitals in Rajshahi Division are facing a critical shortage of beds, forcing patients to receive treatment on the floors. This not only disrupts healthcare services but also causes immense hardship for patients who travel long distances to seek medical care.
Additionally, lack of sufficient doctors and nurses is worsening the situation.
Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH), the largest hospital in northern Bangladesh, serves not only people from northern region but also from southwestern part of the country. Although the hospital has 1,200 beds, it often accommodates more than 5,000 patients.
The plans to expand the hospital to 2,400 beds exist has stalled due to various reasons. Moreover, there is a severe shortage of healthcare staff. Despite these challenges, the hospital remains popular for its quality services in both northern and southern regions in the country.
This problem is not unique to RMCH. Hospitals in every district of the division are facing similar issues. Additionally, Upazila Health Complexes are also struggling with a shortage of medical staff. There are 59 health complexes in 8 districts of Rajshahi Division, with a total of 6,520 beds across all the public hospitals in the region.
A visit to RMCH revealed that due to bed shortage, patients were receiving treatment on the floors of wards and even in the hospital’s corridors. In Medicine Wards, especially during the month of Ramadan, pressure on the hospital was particularly high. In Ward no. 17, with only 16 beds, nearly 40 patients were being treated, many of whom were forced to lie on the floor and in the corridors.
Despite infrastructural improvements, Chapai Nawabganj 250-bed General Hospital is also facing a shortage of beds. Patients requiring better treatment are being referred to RMCH.
The hospital authorities report that approximately 2,000 patients visit the outdoor department daily and major surgeries, such as orthopaedic, eye and ENT operations are performed regularly.
However, with only 10 ICU beds and a lack of staff and equipment, the hospital struggles to provide adequate care.
Dr. Masud Parvez, hospital’s superintendent, said that although ICU and dialysis unit infrastructure had been set up, there was still a lack of manpower and equipment. Additionally, there is a shortage of beds, though efforts are made to accommodate patients with more severe conditions.
In Naogaon, despite being officially a 250-bed hospital, facility is functioning as a 100-bed hospital, with facilities and staff corresponding to that capacity.
The hospital's management reports that while the facility started operating as a 250-bed hospital in 2021, necessary manpower and resources to support that number of beds have not been provided. While 32 types of medicines are given free of charge, staffing levels still fall short, with less than 40% of the required doctors in place.
Dr. Zahid Nazrul Chowdhury, hospital’s director, said that although the hospital has seen an influx of patients from distant areas since it was upgraded to a 250-bed facility, staffing and equipment shortages persist. Despite these limitations, the hospital strives to provide comprehensive care, with more than 80% of patients recovering and returning home. However, for certain conditions, patients are referred to RMCH due to lack of medicines and equipment.
In Rajshahi Division, there are 94 ICU beds available. However, due to a shortage of staff, 44 of these ICU beds in hospitals outside Rajshahi and Bogura are left unused. This results in a high patient load in the two hospitals, with critically ill patients being unable to access ICU services due to lack of space and staff.
At RMCH, there are 40 ICU beds, 10 at Bogura’s Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital (SZMCH), 10 at Sirajganj’s Shaheed M Monsur Ali Medical College, 10 at Chapai Nawabganj General Hospital, 10 at Joypurhat District Modern Hospital, 8 at Bogura’s Government Mohammad Ali Hospital, and 6 at Sirajganj General Hospital. However, apart from RMCH and SZMCH, the remaining hospitals are not utilizing their ICU beds, leading to a bottleneck of critical patients at the two hospitals.
Dr. Habibur Rahman, acting Director of Division’s Health Directorate, acknowledged the shortage of beds and staff across all hospitals in the division.
He mentioned that the issue has been reported to higher authorities and that while bed numbers may not be increased soon, efforts will be made to address the staffing shortfall.
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