Zakir Azad, Cumilla 

ICU services at two government hospitals in Comilla The ICUs of Cumilla Sadar General Hospital and Medical College Hospital (CUMEC) are on the verge of closure. Doctors providing ICU services have not been getting paid for 4 months. The same is true of employees including nurses. These ICUs (Incentive Care Units) were launched as part of the emergency project during the Corona period.

There are 10-bed ICU services at Cumilla Sadar Hospital and 10-bed ICU services at Cumilla Medical College Hospital. Patients are being deprived of this urgent service. Meanwhile, doctors, nurses and employees are protesting in Dhaka demanding payment of salaries and permanent employment. The strike is also going on. Still, the service is running. The people of Cumilla have been demanding the launch of ICU services in these hospitals for a long time. Now they have demanded that it be kept running.
On Tuesday, there were 3 patients in the 10-bed ICU of Cumilla Sadar Hospital. New patients are not being admitted. There is a demand. ICU specialist doctor junior consultant Dr. Abdul Muktadir said, doctors, nurses, and employees have not been getting salaries since January this year. No one is clearly saying whether we have jobs or not. There is dissatisfaction about all this. There is a movement going on in Dhaka. There is also a work stoppage. Since the employees are there, new patients cannot be taken in. How can they provide services if there is no job security? He said, the project was supposed to end in June. But 6 months ago, in December last year, it was said that the project would be closed. However, everyone will get salary as per the outsourcing rules. But they are not getting that either.

It was learned that although the ICU was opened at the end of the Corona period at Sadar Hospital with equipment worth about 25 crore taka, it could not be started due to lack of specialist doctors. Later, the unit was started on November 14, 2023 with the manpower posted at Cumilla Medical College Hospital. Two more MOs (Medical Officers) were required as per the rules. They were also appointed under the project. Also under the project are 3 nurses and 6 ward boys. This is the manpower. Even then, the doctors are providing uninterrupted service. The ICU beds are much less than the demand. The other two doctors are Dr. Tania and Dr. Chayan. The entire ICU of Cumilla Sadar Hospital is running under the project, so it is now on the verge of closure. The 20-bed isolation unit that was started during the Corona period has already been completely closed. The equipment is being destroyed.

There was a 10-bed isolation unit at Cumilla Medical College Hospital. The 10-bed ICU was started at the end of Corona. One bed was empty on Tuesday. Usually, ICU beds are not empty in the hospital. The relatives of patients Nazrul (50) and Khodeja (70), who were admitted on Sunday, said that they could not afford to get treatment if there was no government ICU service. They said that this service is urgent and needs to be continued.
Dr. Moin Uddin, a specialist doctor and junior consultant in charge of the Kumec ICU, said that 84 doctors like him were appointed for the 10-bed ICU under the Corona project. In addition, there are 3 doctors including a registrar and an assistant registrar. Apart from him, the remaining two MOs were brought from other upazilas on additional duty. Since they are regular, their salaries are going on.
In this way, the ICU was being run by regular and casual doctors. In addition, there are nurses, ward boys and a nannies. They are also under the project. There are 1,04 such employees across the country. Their salaries have also been stopped for four months.
He said that at the same time, these three doctors are also providing medical services in the 10-bed HDU (High Dependency Unit). If the project is closed, their jobs will be lost. There will be no specialist doctors in the ICO. Those two MOs may remain. This may lead to the closure of the ICU.

A former principal of Cumilla Medical College, on condition of anonymity, said that it is surprising to think that emergency services like ICU are being closed due to a shortage of doctors and manpower in a medical college like Cumilla . However, before that, this 500-bed hospital did not have an ICU. Although an initiative was taken to open another 10-bed unit at that time, it could not be started. This is wasting expensive equipment worth crores of taka. Because during the Awami League era, the owners of private hospitals did not want ICUs to be started in government hospitals. They were also big leaders of doctors and medical organizations. Dr. Moin Uddin also said that first they were appointed on a contractual basis from the Corona period to June this year under the UNFPA and then the ERPP (Emergency Pandemic Preparedness) project. Now, before the project is completed, their salaries have been stopped on the pretext of lack of funds. This is causing frustration to all doctors, nurses, nannies and ward boys. According to him, it is painful to see the cries of helpless patients and their relatives for treatment. Only the victims know the extent of the patient's wait and the amount of work for an empty bed in the ICU. Dr. Abdul Moktadir of Cumilla Sadar Hospital further said that they were appointed and joined in June 2020 during the Corona period. Later, the project was extended for one year. Then another year. Then it started to be extended by 6 months. Thus, it has reached today. It is said that the project ended in December. The salary will continue until June, not from the project, but from outsourcing, as per government rules. But now it is closed. That is why the medical staff is protesting.