Desk Report,
“This car must be taken, no other car will take this body.”
People seek ambulances to reach hospitals quickly and safely for emergency treatment. Capitalizing on such ‘emergency moments’, ‘ambulance syndicates’ have openly formed around government hospitals in the country. This syndicate or group holds the relatives of the patients hostage and collects rent as they wish.
“This car must be taken, no other car will take this body.”
On Sunday (August 17), such a picture was found in five government medical college hospitals in five divisional cities of the country. These five cities are Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet and Mymensingh.
There is a ‘shortage’ of government ambulances in these big hospitals. People have to rely on private ambulances. But many have reported the dominance of the syndicates formed around private ambulances in each hospital. Despite such activities being carried out openly, there are allegations that no action is taken by the administration. On Thursday night, ambulance drivers belonging to the syndicate prevented patients from taking them to Dhaka from Shariatpur Sadar Hospital due to the hiring of ‘outside’ ambulances. A newborn died inside an ambulance after suffering from respiratory problems and various physical problems after being stuck for a long time. There are allegations that such cruelty by hospital-based ambulance syndicates has happened in the country before. The death of the newborn has once again brought the matter to the fore. In this incident, the main accused, Sabuj Dewan, was arrested last Saturday in a case filed by the child’s father. There is no policy in the country regarding the operation of ambulances. However, a director of the Directorate General of Health Services said that although the work of formulating a policy has started, it has not been completed. On the condition of anonymity, he told Prothom Alo on Monday that the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) allows ambulances that operate on the roads or outside hospitals. The Directorate General of Health Services has no control in this regard.
During the Corona pandemic, a report titled ‘Charging ambulance fares as desired’ was published in Prothom Alo on April 23, 2021. It said that hospital employees and influential people collect higher fares by forming a ‘syndicate’. When asked whether BRTA would take any initiative to fix the fare of ambulances, the organization’s director Lokman Hossain Mollah told Prothom Alo that the higher authorities would take action on the matter very soon. Zaman Mia was looking for an ambulance to take his relatives from Mymensingh Medical College Hospital to the Purora area of Srivardi, Sherpur at around 10 am on Sunday. A queue of ambulances was in front of the emergency department. Some ambulances were asking for 3,000 taka, some 4,000 taka, some 4.500 taka, and AC vehicles were asking for 5,000 taka. Zaman said, “We are helpless with the fare they are asking. If the fare had been fixed, then no one would have been able to ask for whatever fare they wanted.”
When you stand in front of Khulna Medical College Hospital, the first thing you see is a row of private ambulances. On Sunday morning, drivers were seen handing out visiting cards to relatives of patients who came looking for ambulances. Even though the distance was the same, each driver was asking for a different fare.
While talking to the patient’s relatives, a driver named Hafizur Rahman, while giving his card, said that government ambulances do not go to Dhaka. He can provide service in two ways. He will charge 8,000 taka to Dhaka. Or if he wants, he can also send the patient for 6,000 taka; in that case, he will go to Khulna Zero Point and from there, he will hand over the patient to an empty ambulance bound for Dhaka.
