Patient harassment by organised middlemen and brokers in the government hospitals seems to have become a common practice in country. We hope the government will take strong action against this organised middlemen operating in most of the state-run hospitals, health complexes and medical colleges across the country.
Reportedly, a mobile court on Thursday sentenced 24 brokers to different terms for harassing and deceiving patients at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital in the city. They used to take money from patients on the pretext of providing better health services at DMCH. And later patients were being taken to different substandard hospitals or medical centers. However, apart from DMCH, the same grim scenario is also prevailing at the all government hospitals.
The government should gear up efforts
to launch a crackdown against the
organised gang of middlemen
The government has set up a number of medical colleges and hospitals in the country to provide treatment to people. We think the quality of healthcare services is much better than past in the country. But the patients are not getting proper treatment due to the activities of the middlemen.
Patients are entitled to the full range of human rights at the public hospitals with information about their health status, treatment options and reasonable alternatives. But they are being humiliated, harassed and even beaten up sometimes by the organised middlemen and brokers. There are allegations that a group of unscrupulous hospital authorities help the brokers to conduct unethical practice.
Considering the situation, entrance of the brokers at the hospitals must be prohibited. Also, the government should gear up efforts to launch a crackdown against the organised gang of middlemen, thugs, outsiders and cheats at all government hospitals in order to ensure proper treatment to the patients. We believe the government will do its best to keep all the hospitals free from all sorts of anomalies.
