Frequent power outages are causing patients to suffer at Barishal General Hospital and Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH), disrupting treatment and making it difficult to keep operating theatres and critical care units running.
During visits to the hospitals yesterday, patients and their attendants were seen struggling in the heat during load-shedding. Hospital authorities said inadequate generators, fuel shortages and insufficient power connections were affecting essential services.
At Barishal General Hospital, the impact was visible in the diarrhoea ward. Although the temperature outside was 32 degrees Celsius, it felt much warmer inside, with almost every patient using a hand fan for relief. The electricity went out around 11:00am and returned more than an hour later.
Anwar Hossain, 40, a patient admitted to the ward, said power cuts occurred every one or two hours.
Tumpa Rani, the nurse in charge of the ward, said they sometimes had to use mobile phone lights to provide treatment at night during load-shedding. “This situation has been going on for the past one and a half months. We have submitted a demand for an IPS, but nothing has been done yet,” she said.
Around 450 patients are admitted to the hospital, while around 750 receive outpatient services daily.
Dr Moloy Krishna Baral, resident medical officer, said it has only one electricity line, while its lone generator has been out of order since the pandemic.
A similar situation prevailed at the 1,000-bed SBMCH, where hundreds of patients and attendants were seen struggling in overcrowded wards, corridors and staircases.
Mahabul Alam, an imam from Jhalakathi, admitted his three-year-old child with breathing difficulties a few days ago. As no bed was available, the child was being treated on a staircase in the sweltering heat.
Many families had brought stand fans from outside, while others relied on traditional palm-leaf hand fans.
At the Coronary Care Unit, 22 critically ill patients were receiving treatment. Dr Afzal, at the CCU, said the unit had a generator, but it could not run air conditioners and large medical equipment.
Md Rakib Hossain, sub-assistant engineer of the Public Works Department responsible for SBMCH, said the hospital requires around one megawatt of electricity.
Image
“There are three generators for emergencies -- two with 250 kilowatts each and another with 175 kilowatts of capacity. When the power goes out, two generators run while one remains on standby. However, the generators do not provide backup to the new medicine building, ICU and some other areas,” he said.
“At least 150 litres of fuel is needed to run the generators daily. But we do not have a separate allocation for fuel. We arrange it by reducing other operational expenses. We have written to the authorities seeking fuel allocation, to no avail yet.”
SBMCH Director Brig Gen Dr Masiul Munir said, “The PWD cannot always supply fuel for the generators. There is no fuel allocation, no adequate generators and no necessary IPS units. How can all these problems be solved?”
Hospital authorities said around 2,000 patients are usually treated as inpatients daily.
Md Akhtaruzzaman Palash, executive engineer of Power Grid Bangladesh in Barishal division, said the maximum electricity demand in Barishal currently stands at around 152MW, against an allocation capacity of up to 180MW.
“However, over the past week, we have received no more than 125MW. As a result, there is a power shortage of up to 30 percent,” he said.
