Operating without licence: DGHS to take action against United Medical College Hospital

The Directorate of Health Services (DGHS) will take action against the United Medical College in the capital's Badda for operating illegally, without any licence.

"United Medical authority had applied for registration, but their application was flawed. They have to apply again properly. But as there is no registration, there is no opportunity for them to carry out treatment," Dr Abu Hussain Md Moinul Ahsan, director (Hospitals and Clinics), DGHS, said at a press briefing at the directorate on Thursday.

The DGHS announcement comes amid a huge outcry over the death of five-year-old Ayaan following a routine circumcision procedure by United Medical College Hospital doctors recently.

Ayaan's father Shamim Ahmed on 10 January sought cancellation of the medical college's licence following an investigation into his child's death.

The health directorate, on its own initiative, formed a probe committee over the incident that led to the death of Ayaan. The investigation report is to be submitted by 18 January.

"As the matter is under investigation, we are currently unable to initiate any action against United Medical College in this connection. However, we will definitely take a decision on this after the investigation is over," Dr Moinul said on Thursday.

Talking to The Business Standard, Ariful Hoque, public relations manager of United Hospital and spokesperson for United Medical, said, "We [United Medical] have applied for the licence to the DGHS. But we have not received any official response from the directorate that our application was flawed.

"We didn't know what was wrong with it. If there is any error, then we will definitely correct it. The directorate is our regulatory board, so we must follow their directives properly." 

Earlier in the day, Ayaan's family and relatives formed a human chain in front of United Medical's gate to push a six-point demand, including the arrests of the doctors who performed the surgery – Saeed Sabbir and Tasnuva Mahzabeen.

Ayaan's grandfather Jasimuddin said on the occasion, "Authorities of United [Medical College] killed our Ayaan in the name of treatment.

"Such a situation can never occur in a normal circumcision of a child. Their treatment was flawed and negligent. We lost our grandson. The individuals responsible for this must not evade the course of justice. We want the immediate arrest of the two accused doctors."

On 31 December, Ayaan was circumcised under full anaesthesia, allegedly without parental consent, at United Medical College Hospital in Satarkul of Badda.

As he did not regain consciousness a few hours post-operation, he was transferred to the hospital's Gulshan branch where he was kept on life support in the paediatric intensive care unit.

Seven days later, the doctors declared Ayaan dead on 7 January.

Ayaan's family filed a writ petition with the High Court, seeking directives for an investigation into the matter and a compensation of Tk1 crore on 9 January