Pvt clinics mushrooming defying rules in Sylhet

Private clinics and diagnostic centres have sprung up in the city defying the provision of ensuring necessary number of medical officers, diploma nurses and technicians.
Although a very insignificant portion of the 120 registered private hospitals and clinics in the city are found out to be fully compliant with the rules, the authorities of those compliant institutions are also forced to pay the illegal sum to a quarter of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for the license renewal every year, according to sources at the DGHS.
They said it has been an undeclared order to visit the officials concerned after every inspection, and whether it is required by the law or not, the authorities of the hospitals and diagnostic centres have to count the illegal sum to have their licenses renewed.
Talking to this correspondent, insiders in the sector admitted that most of the hospitals and diagnostic centres in the city cannot afford to comply with the rule of ensuring round-the-clock medical staff after counting the huge illegal sum required for the license renewal every year.
However, the vacuum is being fulfilled by ‘fake’ doctors and technicians and the patients are facing wrong treatment at the clinics and hospitals apart from counting extra charges as they are prescribed to undergo unnecessary tests there.
Dr. Shamimur Rahman former prasident of BMA Sylhet branch, told  that most of the clinics and diagnostic centres have been non-compliant to rules.
“No one will be able to run the institutions if one has to fully comply with the government rules,” he said.
“There’s a scarcity of doctors and nurses in the country,” Dr. Shamim said adding, “To run a 10-bed clinic, we require six doctors and six diploma nurses in three shifts. If this condition has to be fulfilled, all the clinics and diagnostic centres will have to be shut down.”