Patients admitted to the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital and those coming for treatment from inside Dhaka and other districts continued to suffer on Saturday as treatment remained suspended for the fourth day running.
Treatment at the institute at the capital鈥檚 Agargaon became suspended after a clash broke out on May 28 between the hospital staff, outpatients and the July uprising injured who were admitted to the hospital.聽
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a press release on Saturday that treatment at the hospital remained suspended following the clash, as physicians and other healthcare providers felt extremely insecure.聽聽
Having asked for sincere apology for the disruption in services at the hospital, the ministry requested the patients to seek treatment at the nearby hospitals.聽
To resolve the deadlock, a delegation, sent to the NIOH, was at work, the release said.聽
All necessary steps would be taken to fully resume medical services at the hospital once a safe and supportive environment was ensured, it said, adding that meals were served in special arrangement for the July injured.聽聽
During a visit to the hospital at around 1:30pm Saturday, patients seeking treatment were seen being turned away by the members of Bangladesh Ansar deployed there.
Masud Rana, a wage worker from Savar who began experiencing eye problems from this April, came to the hospital for treatment.
鈥楾he treatment at a private hospital is too expensive for me. So I came here. I have received part of my treatment earlier. It鈥檚 not complete yet,鈥� he said.
Following the situation, many in-patients have already left, said the patients who had still remained. Except for the July injured, around 25 general patients were still staying at the hospital as of Saturday, they said.
Kawsar Ahmed, a patient from Narayanganj who got admitted to the hospital on May 27 and underwent eye surgery the same day, is currently staying on the fourth floor.
鈥楶atients are receiving no treatment as there鈥檚 no doctor or nurse at the hospital,鈥� he said. He, however, added that the authorities resumed providing food from the hospital canteen since Friday.
Nabila Nadia, who is working at the hospital as a student representative to assist the July injured, said on Saturday that at the hospital there were 50 in-patients injured in the uprising.
Earlier, NIOH director Khair Ahmed Choudhury, who took seven-day leave on May 28, told 抖阴精品 that the hospital staff, including the physicians and nurses, began work abstention pressing for their security after he was besieged for two hours by protesters following suicide attempts by four uprising survivors.聽
At one point of the siege, a clash broke out among the hospital staff, outpatients and the uprising injured, leaving around 12 hospital staff, including three doctors, injured, he added.
The July injured, however, alleged that at least nine of them received injuries as the hospital staff attacked them.
On May 24, four male in-patients with eye injuries received during the July uprising last year attempted to commit suicide by ingesting poison at the hospital, reportedly out of frustration over their unmet demands, including proper treatment. One of the four patients had recently returned from abroad after treatment.
