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Ctg Medical College Hospital

Equipment, staff crises plague labour ward

Arun Bikash Dey, Ctg
The Antenatal and Labour Ward of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) is functioning with almost half of the medical equipment and workforce required to deal with the increased number of patients.
This situation has caused sufferings to patients and burdens on the staff of the labour ward, a sub-ward or unit of Gynaecology Ward which has three other units.
Dr Md Mahbub Alam, an assistant professor of gynaecology department, said there were just 64 beds in the labour unit while it had to accommodate 120 patients on an average on a typical day. So the rest of the patients have to find placeon the floor, he added.
The labour ward also lacks adequate equipment for child delivery where around 30 caesarean and 35 normal deliveries take place every day.
At least four Operation Theatre (OT) tables, four OT lights, four anaesthesia machines, and four pulse oximeters are required to carry out these deliveries, but it has only two old OT tables, two OT lights, and two anaesthesia machines. All the three pulse oximeters are now out of order.
There is also a shortage of physicians, internal medical assistants (IMO), and nurses.
Sources said one professor, one associate professor, and an assistant professor had to look after the four units of Gynaecology Ward till 2:30pm every working day. There
are also a junior consultant, four registrars, and eight assistant registrars.
According to officials at Gynaecology Ward, two more assistant registrars, four junior consultants, and four senior consultants are required. There are only 16 IMOs working at the four units while 32 of them are required, they said.
Alongside shortage of doctors and medical assistants, the labour ward suffers a crisis of nurses. It has 16 nurses when it should have 32 of them.
Regarding the workforce crisis, CMCH Director Brig Gen Fashiur Rahman said new and more posts would have to be created to fill the gap. The existing workforce is too small to deal with the increased number of patients, he said.
“We have submitted a proposal with the health ministry to upgrade the 1010-bed hospital to a 2200-bed one, thereby changing existing setup of the workforce."
As the labour ward does not get adequate assistance from the government, some individualsand organisationshave come to itshelp.
Sunshine Charities, a charitable organisation, has donated an OT table, two delivery tables, two exhaust fans, 11 air conditioners (AC) and 25 steel cabinets to the labour ward.
Safia Gazi Rahman, chairman of the charity, said her organisation also regularly paid additional money and provided uniforms to the locally managed 27 sweepers who also work as maids in the ward.