DMCH: A Patient beyond Cure?
A group of students of Department of International Relations of the University of Dhaka conducted a survey on the patients of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for their academic purpose in the months of March-May 1999. Some important findings of the survey are mentioned below.
- Most of the patients who come to DMCH are people from lower (69%) or middle (30%) income group. Only a negligible portion of the patients are from upper income group (1%).
- Most of the patients expressed their dissatisfaction over the availability of free medicine from DMCH authority. 30% of the interviewed said that they have to buy medicine from outside, 30% said that are provided with low quality medicine, 20% said they receive some medicine and the rest 20% said that they receive a few of the medicine.
- A majority of the patients expressed their satisfaction over the treatment they receive from the doctors of DMCH. 70% of the interviewed patients said that their service is good, 15% commented fair while the rest 15% expressed their dissatisfaction.
- 84% of the patients complained about the filthy and dirty environment of DMCH premises. 9% commented as fair and only 7% were satisfied with it. An almost similar opinion was received about the internal environment of DMCH.
- Only 10% of the patients were found satisfied with the food that is provided by the hospital. Majority (65%) of the patients termed it as below standard and a smaller portion (25%) found it somewhat acceptable. Besides, most of them were dissatisfied over the cleanliness of the provided food.
Recommendations:
- DMCH lacks in modern equipment. Emphasis should be given on procurement of modern equipment and at the same time steps should be taken for proper maintenance of the existing ones.
- There should be close contact between the administration and the service providers of DMCH. Steps should be taken to control visitors and to improve discipline in service.
- Special care should be taken to improve both internal and external environment of the hospital.
- Supply of medicine has to be increased according to the demand of the growing number of patients .
- Third and fourth class employees have to be more sincere and co-operative in their service.
- Number of doctors has to be increased to take the extra load of patients. Besides, they should be more careful about their attendance.
- A phase by phase privatisation of DMCH will increase the accountability of all the personnel concerned and eventually the overall service of DMCH.