Railway General Hospital: OT, lab and beds yet no doctors and patients
The hospital was fully functional and active decades ago, serving as a vital healthcare centre for railway employees and their families. However, it is now struggling with shortages of doctors, diagnostic services and medicines, as well as ineffective management
On Dhaka's Outer Circular Road, opposite Motijheel Ideal School, stands the Railway General Hospital. The worn-out nameplate at the entrance announces that medical services here are "open to all."
However, once inside, reality tells a different story.
Spiders have woven webs across the window sills, while locks hang from door after door. There is no line at the ticket counter, no patients waiting outside the doctors' chambers.
The veranda is empty; only a cat sits undisturbed as a dog wanders through the premises. A thick layer of dust covers an abandoned ambulance, while a patient trolley has rusted away. A doctor's nameplate still hangs on one door, but the room behind it remains locked.
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Dr Sajeda Begum Daizy, divisional medical officer, Bangladesh Railway, Dhaka, attributed the low patient turnout primarily to the shortage of manpower.
"The main reason patients don't come is that our manpower is low. There are very few doctors, nurses, pharmacists and laboratory technicians," she said.
Established in 1986, the hospital complex comprises its main building, open spaces and trees spread across 4.3 acres. Built primarily for railway employees, the hospital was opened to the public in 2015 following an inter-ministerial agreement.
Its pathology laboratory conducted routine blood tests, X-rays and other diagnostic tests, while the operating theatre was also in use. It even provided medical tests for railway recruitment and issued fitness certificates. Those seeking such tests are now sent elsewhere.
Azad, 50, a local resident, said the hospital is of little use when patients need anything beyond basic care.
"If there is an accident or something serious, we have to go to Dhaka Medical or another hospital. There are hardly any doctors here, and the necessary tests cannot be done either," he said.
Another local resident, Zia, 45, said even minor tests often require a visit to a private clinic.
"Even for minor tests, we have to rush to private clinics. If a patient is taken to the emergency department, they are referred to Dhaka Medical. If a hospital right at hand is of no use in times of danger, what benefit is it to ordinary people? It is a general hospital in name only," he said.
However, at its core, the hospital is caught in a dispute between the Railway Ministry and the Health Ministry over the hospital's land and administration authority.
According to the memorandum of understanding signed on 30 April 2015, a seven-member management committee, jointly run by officials from the two ministries—the Health and Railway ministries—was given responsibility for running the hospital. The committee was entrusted with appointing a director, forming a committee to prepare an inventory of the hospital's movable and immovable assets, recruiting the necessary manpower, and repairing or replacing non-functional medical equipment.
The seven-member committee, led by the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has not taken any notable initiative to modernise the hospital. No committee has yet been formed to inventory the hospital's assets.
According to sources familiar with the hospital's operations, it costs around Tk3 million a month to run. Yet patient turnout remains low compared with the hospital's capacity, with around 100 patients visiting the outpatient and emergency departments each day.
Dr Tuhin Binte Halima, Chief Medical Officer at Bangladesh Railway in Dhaka, said the hospital's most pressing need is specialist doctors.
"We also need manpower. The process is underway, and an application has been submitted to the new government," she said.
Dr Anjuman Ara, an assistant surgeon in the outpatient department, said even upgrades have not always translated into functioning services.
"The dental section was recently equipped with modern machines, but no dentist was appointed. A doctor has been given the additional responsibility and comes twice a week," she said.
A review of the hospital's registry book shows that only 10 patients are currently admitted, while an average of about 100 patients a day visit the outpatient department for treatment.
Dr Daizy added that the outpatient department runs from 9am to 4pm, while the emergency department operates from 4pm to 9am the following day. The emergency department also receives a fair number of patients.
"We sometimes bring in doctors from outside because we have a shortage. Operations used to take place here, but we don't have a surgeon now — who would perform them? There is no anaesthetist either. The last operation was around 2019."
For Md Yakub, 70, a former railway employee and patient, the hospital's decline is personal.
"Earlier, very good service was available here. Now it is not like before. Doctors come in the morning and afternoon, but there are no doctors at night. Whatever doctor is available, the treatment will be according to that. If there were more doctors, perhaps we would get better service," he said.
A nurse, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that due to the lack of patients, the 75-bed hospital was reduced to 40 beds a couple of years ago.
Rinku Chakraborty, the sister in charge, said patients still come, but the hospital's limitations prevent their numbers from growing.
"Patients do come every day. But we lack many of the necessary equipment and facilities. If there were doctors in every department, the number of patients would be much higher. Still, our nurses try to provide patients with the best care and service we can," she said.
Dr Daizy said the hospital currently has six regular doctors, along with one doctor from the health department. Its nursing staff includes six senior nurses and three junior nurses, while there are 10 matrons.
The previous government decided to upgrade the hospital in order to provide modern services to railway employees and the general public. Although a long time has passed since then, effectively nothing has changed.
A pharmacy worker said the hospital can supply medicine for only three days to a patient, whereas other hospitals can provide seven days' worth. Medicine is supplied to the hospital twice a year.
The laboratory remains closed for routine testing, while the X-ray machine and other diagnostic equipment have been lying unused for years. For patients, that means even basic diagnostic needs often require a trip outside the hospital.
"Since we don't have advanced equipment, it is not possible to carry out major diagnostic tests. At the basic level, only a few tests, such as haemoglobin testing, are currently functional," Dr Daizy said.
The operating theatre is also non-functional, despite having the necessary infrastructure. The hospital has no consultants in surgery, gynaecology or orthopaedics, nor does it have an anaesthetist.
"We sometimes bring in doctors from outside because we have a shortage. Operations used to take place here, but we don't have a surgeon now — who would perform them? There is no anaesthetist either. The last operation was around 2019," Dr Daizy said.
The hospital's underuse has also exposed it to security problems. Inadequate security personnel have led to the theft of fans, lights and other equipment from the premises, according to hospital employees.
"There are not enough security guards, so theft happens frequently," an employee said, requesting anonymity.
After the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospital was designated as a Covid facility, and some beds were added, along with the appointment of additional doctors and nurses. But after two months, the hospital was removed from the list of Covid hospitals, and the doctors and nurses were subsequently withdrawn.
For patients such as Nur Islam, the hospital's limitations are felt most directly.
"This hospital is our only reliance. But when we come here, we don't get good treatment. Medicine is given in insufficient amounts — they say there is a shortage or there is no medicine," he said.
There is no shortage of infrastructure at Railway General Hospital. What is lacking is the capacity to turn that infrastructure into healthcare. The building is there. The beds are there. The operating theatre and laboratory are there.
Government funds are still being spent to keep the hospital running. What remains missing are the doctors, diagnostic services, equipment and management needed to make all of it work. Authorities say the process of recruiting manpower is underway.
But with a laboratory that has remained largely inactive, an operating theatre that has gone unused for years and beds that often remain empty, the question is no longer whether the hospital has the infrastructure to serve people. It is when that infrastructure will finally become a functioning hospital.
