ICUs out of commission!

We are astounded that the intensive care units (ICUs) at the country's premier hospital for cardiovascular diseases, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), have been out of operation for the last 10 days as the air conditioning system could not be fixed on time. According to the hospital authorities, the temperature imbalance at the ICUs caused infections among patients, which led to the units being shut down, leading to untold sufferings to those in urgent need of intervention.

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Every district hospital must have an ICU

The hospital accommodates 1,200 indoor patients at a time, against its 800-bed capacity, and has two ICUs with a total of 48 beds, with patients requiring intensive care for three to seven days post-surgery. On average, around five cardiac surgeries are conducted every day at the NICVD, which means that the delay in fixing the air conditioning system has led to the postponement of at least 50 surgeries, which can have life-threatening repercussions for cardiac patients. As many of those who seek treatment at the government hospital are from low-income groups and come from outside Dhaka, often selling off their properties or taking on loans to pay for the medical expenses, such untoward delays have no doubt compounded their miseries – both physical and financial.

It is no secret that our public hospitals, which provide crucial services to thousands of people from across the country at subsidised rates, are understaffed and underfunded.

Given that people's lives are at stake, we would have expected the authorities to take urgent steps to fix the ICUs' air conditioning system in the hottest summer that Dhaka has experienced in six decades. Unfortunately, according to our report, a lack of coordination between the NICVD authorities and the Public Works Department (PWD), which is responsible for the maintenance of the air conditioning system, is prolonging the situation. Though the hospital evacuated the ICUs hoping that the ACs would be fixed during the Eid holidays, the PWD could not yet start the works, apparently because it was not possible to complete the necessary procurement during the Eid holidays.

It is no secret that our public hospitals, which provide crucial services to thousands of people from across the country at subsidised rates, are understaffed and underfunded. That they are still able to do their jobs well and save so many lives on a daily basis is to their tremendous credit. But incidents such as these reveal the fault lines in management, highlighting how bureaucracy and inefficiency affect our service delivery mechanisms and do a disservice to the healthcare professionals who are trying their utmost to offer quality services to patients, despite the many constraints.

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Corruption in public hospitals must be stopped

We urge the PWD and the NICVD authorities to address this issue immediately and ease people's sufferings. We need not remind them that heart surgeries are critical and such prolonged delays can have disastrous consequences for patients.