Ten out of 294 private clinics and diagnostic centres of the Khulna metropolitan city are running without obtaining a licence from the health administration, according to the Khulna divisional office of the health department.

Besides, among the 294 private clinics and diagnostic centres, 270 currently have licences and 14 others have applied online to obtain licences.

Furthermore, most of the clinics and diagnostic centres are reluctant to follow the rules and regulations of the drug administration, sources said. These clinics attract patients by agents and force them to get unnecessary operations in many cases.

Amid such conditions, different patients of general surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology, orthopaedics, and neurosurgery, mainly those who come from rural areas, suffer significantly, experts said.

In some cases, these institutions start operations just after applying with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for a licence which is a clear violation of the Medical Practice and Private Clinics and Laboratories (Regulation) Ordinance, 1982.

Khulna Civil Surgeon Dr Sabizur Rahman said most of these clinics don’t have full-time doctors while some doctors provide services contractually. Almost all of these clinics hang signboards containing the names of the same physicians, he said.

“These lack a sufficient number of doctors, nurses, and medical facilities are adequate to meet the demands of a large number of patients and are not equipped with modern facilities”, the doctor said.

“Operations are also conducted by junior doctors in most of these clinics resulting in a higher number of complications among patients. Senior and specialist physicians seldom pay visits to these clinics charging high payments. Most of the private hospitals and clinics have been opened in rented residential houses that have no architectural arrangement required for providing medical services.”

According to the regulations of the drug administration, the health department permits a 10-bed clinic to operate, if it is equipped with three full-time doctors, six diploma nurses, three sweepers and three specialist physicians.

Patients alleged that many doctors of the state-run hospital are associated with these clinics and diagnostic centres and they often advise their patients to test their blood sugar, chest, eyes, joints and other parts while many of them are unnecessary.

Member Secretary of Khulna Nagorik Samaj Advocate Md Babul Hawlader said “Doctors compel the patients to operate these tests only for getting commission. The owners of these diagnostic centres are obliged to share 40% to 50% of their earnings from tests with the concerned doctors.”

Moreover, these diagnostic centres charge 10 to 20 times more of the actual cost for any test, said some employees of these establishments who preferred to remain anonymous. An assistant of a diagnostic centre said that only Tk20 is required for a blood sugar test of a patient but a patient has to pay Tk200 at the diagnostic centre for blood sugar test only.

Dr Md Manjurul Murshid, divisional director of the Khulna Health Department said that he is aware of the unlicenced diagnostic centres and private clinics and taking steps against them.

Khulna Health Department along with the district administration and police, forms mobile courts and operates drives several times to prevent the malpractice regularly, he said.

“The illegal institutions are fined or asked to shut down, he said, adding that several fake doctors have already been fined. Most of these illegal clinics have been often found to be filthy and unhygienic for providing medical services”, Dr Manzur said.

Unwilling to be named, several owners of private clinics and diagnostic centres told the Daily Sun that they had tried to get proper documents for operating businesses in Dhaka but failed.  They alleged that some of the Director General of Drug Administration officials demanded healthy bribes for issuing the licence.

An owner of a diagnostic centre said that he had applied for a licence two years ago through the Health Directorate, Khulna but has yet to get the licence.