Surge of Covid Patients: Dinajpur’s lone dedicated hospital full to the brim

With the number of Covid-19 patients increasing every day, M Abdur Rahim Medical College and Hospital in Dinajpur is overflowing. As of yesterday, around 200 people occupied the hospital's 130-bed Covid unit.

As the only specialised public treatment institution for patients of four northern districts, this is affecting more than just people of Dinajpur.

According to officials, there are 16 ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds and 11 HDU (High Dependency Unit) beds at the hospital, all of which are occupied at present.

The hospital also has a central oxygen supply with a capacity of 10,000-litre.

Dr Abdul Kuddus, civil surgeon of Dinajpur, said at least 300 Covid patients are being treated across different hospitals in the district.

Among them, 213 patients are admitted to Abdur Rahim Hospital, 42 to Dinajpur General Hospital, and 45 to upazila health complexes in the district.

As the Abdur Rahim Hospital is a government-run specialised hospital, critical patients from nearby districts, including Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, and Nilphamari, go there for treatment too.

During multiple visits to the hospital over the week, the hospital authorities were seen struggling to deal with the surge of patients.

"Covid patients from all over the region come here; it gets difficult for us to serve them with our limited capacity," said a staffer.

While patients and their attendants are suffering immensely due to this shortage of capacity, many also complained of mismanagement to go with it.

Dinajpur town resident Mohammad Joy said he brought his father to the hospital after he started experiencing breathing difficulties.

"My father got a bed after trying for two days. We got his RT-PCR test report after another day," he said.

It is worth mentioning here that no Covid-related tests take place in the hospital.

Besides, patients have to suffer more as the only CT-Scan machine of the hospital is out of service, Joy said.

Md Rafiqul Islam, attendant of a patient from Thakurgaon, alleged that hospital staffers often misbehave with them.

"Finding an on-duty nurse is also extremely difficult, even during an emergency," he said.

Many also alleged that even amid the Covid crisis, influential people of the region are getting priority at the hospital.

In addition, there's a medicine crisis at the hospital too.

"We have to buy all the prescribed medicines from drugstores as they [the hospital] do not have enough supply," said a patient's attendant Sahidnur Rahman.

Dr Aktar Kamal, head of the hospital's Covid unit, refuted the allegations. He said they are trying their best to treat Covid patients in times of a crisis, while having to deal with severe resource shortage.

Contacted, Dr Shamim Ara Najnin, director of the hospital, echoed his claims.

She also said they have sent a request for the required medicines to the health ministry. She hoped they will get them soon.

Since March last year, around 1,600 patients have been admitted to the hospital. Of them, around 200 have died and while 1,300 have recovered.