Ctg's Railway Hospital stands idle as nearby hospitals struggle beyond capacity

Highlights:

• CMCH and General Hospital severely overcrowded, treating far beyond capacity
• Railway Hospital mostly idle despite opening to general public in April
• Lack of food, medicine, and funding halts indoor treatment expansion
• Only about five inpatients daily; most wards remain unused
• Outdoor unit treats around 150 patients daily, mainly railway staff
• Limited budget hinders emergency, surgery, and diagnostic services development

While Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and the General Hospital in the port city continue to operate well beyond their capacity, the nearby 144-bed Railway Hospital remains largely idle due to inadequate infrastructure and limited facilities.

The CMCH, with a 2,200-bed capacity, is treating an average of 3,300 indoor patients daily, forcing many to sleep on balconies and floors, often in unhygienic conditions. The 250-bed General Hospital also experiences a huge pressure of patients. 

In contrast, Railway Hospital treats only a handful of patients daily despite having opened its doors to the general public in April this year to ease the patient load at other facilities.

Infograph: TBS

The hospital, which was originally intended for railway employees and their families, has 17 doctors, 6 nurses, 17 ward attendants and 38 class IV staff, but remains unable to provide proper indoor treatment.

Railway's Chittagong Divisional Medical Officer Tahmina Yasmin told TBS, "If we want to open the indoor, we have to ensure food and medicine for general patients. We have not been able to arrange that. So, for now, we have only outdoor running."

According to Railway Hospital officials, an average of 5 patients receive treatment indoors every day. However, an on-site visit recently found only two patients admitted. Most of the rooms were found locked and the beds were gathering dust, with the nurses and attendants idling away. 

The outdoor section of the hospital does receive some patients, though, mostly railway employees and their families, who receive treatment free of charge. The general public is charged a fee of Tk5. An average of 150 patients receive treatment outdoors at the hospital daily.

The hospital has a number of departments for outdoor patients: orthopaedics, gynaecology and obstetrics, medicine, dermatology and sexual health, cardiology, ENT, dental and surgery. But there is no infrastructure to provide emergency care or conduct surgical procedures. Laboratory and radiology services are running on a limited scale.

Railway Hospital in Chattogram wears a deserted look with a lone man sitting in the corridor. Without any doctor, patient and equipment, the hospital is on th verge of closure. The photo was taken recently. Photo: Mohammad Minhaz Uddin.

A scanty budget remains a major barrier, according to the Eastern Railway officials. The budget allocated for 4 hospitals and 17 dispensaries (primary medical centres) was Tk1.5 crore – 1 crore for medicine and 50 lakh for surgical equipment. 

Railway Eastern Region Chief Medical Officer Ibne Safi Abdul Ahad said, "Many upazila hospitals are allocated more budget than the combined budget of all the railway hospitals in the eastern region. We are working with the health ministry so we are allocated adequate funding and are able to provide more services."

When contacted to inquire about the overall situation, General Manager (GM) of Bangladesh Railway Eastern Region Md Subaktagin refused to comment. Chattogram Civil Surgeon Dr Jahangir Alam did not respond to phone calls.