When Hippocratic Oath rolls on street

When the elderly man was found abandoned on the street near Dhaka Medical College Hospital, a policeman got him admitted to the medicine ward. But the next day, the patient was spotted on the hospital premises in a bed sheet smeared with body waste.

Some ward boys left him there because no one was there to clean the man in 60s and wait upon him. He stank and made other patients uncomfortable, said a staff of the hospital preferring anonymity.

No one, however, could confirm who took him out of the ward and when.

When inquired, the poor man gave his name as Tarek, blabbering. He could not speak clearly. Nor could he move the right side of his body which is paralysed.

Seeing the man in that condition, one Mohammad Parvez, an informal worker at the hospital, cleaned him, changed his clothes, gave him food and took him to the emergency ward.

As he could not move anywhere and say anything about his whereabouts and relatives, Parvez has been taking care of him since November 20, said the hospital sources.  

This correspondent saw him taking food on the hospital premises with his left hand yesterday.

"Though the hospital is serving more than 3,000 inpatients daily, such patients are in most cases deprived of health care," said a staff of the hospital.

At least six such patients were reportedly admitted in the last couple of months, according to sources.

But apparently there is no official mechanism for protecting the patients who do not have family or relative.

The hospital staff said there should be an official arrangement for such ill-fated people.

Khaja Abdul Gofur, assistant director (admin) of DMCH, said they would take action if the allegation that the elderly man was taken out of the ward was proved.

The poor man, however, was admitted again to the medicine ward yesterday after journalists drew the attention of Gofur.