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Surgical services have remained suspended at all government hospitals in Meherpur for nearly two months due to a shortage of anaesthesiologists, leaving operating theatres unused and patients struggling to access essential treatment.
The crisis has affected the 250-bed Meherpur General Hospital and the 50-bed upazila health complexes in Mujibnagar and Gangni.
Hospital sources said anaesthesiologist Mehdi Hasan was transferred to neighbouring Chuadanga General Hospital on June 19. On the same day, physician A M Rakibur Rahman was posted to Meherpur General Hospital as an anaesthesiologist. However, he did not join the hospital and remains in Dhaka.
Rakibur said the health authorities later cancelled his posting to Meherpur and instructed him to join Dhaka Medical College Hospital instead.
As a result, the anaesthesiology post at Meherpur General Hospital remains vacant. Several other specialist positions have also been unfilled for months, including orthopaedics, medicine, cardiology, and dermatology and venereology. Of the hospital’s 42 sanctioned positions, 22 are currently vacant.
The suspension of surgeries has severely disrupted treatment, particularly for patients requiring emergency and specialised procedures. Under normal circumstances, the hospital performed around 30–35 gynaecological, 40–45 general surgical and about 35 orthopaedic operations each month.
Doctors said the prolonged suspension is particularly concerning for pregnant women and patients with complicated gynaecological conditions, potentially increasing risks to mothers and newborns.
Patients are being forced to seek treatment at private clinics, where they face significantly higher medical expenses.
More than 60-year-old Rakibul Islam of Monakhali village in Meherpur Sadar has been waiting at the general hospital for three days. A long-time diabetic, he developed an infection in his right foot after something like a thorn became lodged in it while he was working in a field. Doctors advised surgery, but the procedure cannot be performed at the hospital because of the lack of an anaesthesiologist.
The situation has left patients like Rakibul facing prolonged suffering while the hospital’s operating theatre remains effectively out of service.