Ad-din Medical College Hospital at Moghbazar in the capital will appeal today for a review of a recent decision by the Directorate General of Health Services to cancel its licence over the deaths of six newborns on May 27.
Ad-din Foundation director for human resources and company affairs Tariqul Islam Mukul on Saturday said that the hospital authorities will appeal to the DGHS today to review its decision and to allow the hospital to continue its normal operations in public interest.
The DGHS on June 11 cancelled the licence of the hospital, allowing its authorities to appeal for a review of the decision within 30 days.
According to the hospital’s public relations department, nine patients were released between Friday afternoon and Saturday while 173 patients were released between Thursday afternoon and Friday.
As of Saturday, 234 patients remained admitted to different departments of the hospital. Among the patients, 48 newborns were undergoing treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit, while 12 patients were in the intensive care unit and six in the coronary care unit.
During a visit to the hospital on Saturday afternoon, New Age found that the hospital was not admitting any new patients while several patients were seen leaving the facility.
Mukul said that the government did not specify any timeframe for closing all hospital activities and shift the under-treatment patients.
The hospital has suspended new admissions following the government decision, he said, adding that the treatment of the previously admitted patients were undergoing.
A shopkeeper and father of 10-month-old Salman, Ibrahim, said that his son was undergoing treatment for lung infection at the hospital for 26 days.
‘We can’t afford costly treatment at a private hospital. We don’t know what would happen to us in the days to come,’ Ibrahim said in despair.
Earlier, on Friday, the DGHS had asked six government hospitals in Dhaka to provide immediate and appropriate treatment to the patients referred to by Ad-din Hospital.
The hospitals named in the directive were Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, Mugda Medical College Hospital, Kurmitola General Hospital, and Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute.
Before the cancellation of the hospital licence, a three-member DGHS probe committee formed to investigate the incident found evidence of negligence and mismanagement by the hospital authorities.
Based on the findings, the DGHS issued a show-cause notice to hospital owner SK Bashir Uddin, asking why the hospital should not be shut down.
The DGHS received the hospital’s response on June 9 but said that it was not satisfactory.
The licence was cancelled on June 11 under the Medical Practice and Private Clinics and Laboratories (Regulation) Ordinance, 1982, which allows hospital authorities to seek a review of the decision within 30 days.
