Physicians at 51 public hospitals start to see patients taking fees

Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurates the ‘boikalic sashtoseba’ (afternoon healthcare service) programme virtually at a function at his ministry on 31 March 2023
BSS

Physicians at 51 public hospitals in 39 upazilas of 12 districts have started seeing patients taking fees after performing duties at their official working hours, reports news agency BSS.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday inaugurated the ‘boikalic sashtoseba’ (afternoon healthcare service) programme virtually at a function at his ministry, an official release said.

Secretary of healthcare service division Anwar Hossain Hawlader, secretary of medical education and family welfare division Md. Azizur Rahman, director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) professor Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam and director general of the Directorate General of Medical Education professor Md. Tito Mia, among others, were present at the function.

Maleque said, “We have introduced the boikalic Sashtoseba (afternoon healthcare service) as a pilot programme to discourage the people to go private hospitals and clinics ... I hope people will get better healthcare facilities under the newly introduced programme at public hospitals.”

The government has started the boikalic Sashtoseba programme in a limited scale and it will be expanded in large scale after reviewing outcome of the pilot programme, he added.

Under the programme, Tk 400 has been fixed for professors, Tk 300 for associate professors and Tk 200 for junior consultants, the health ministry sources said.

The government has also fixed the fees of different medical testing services at those hospitals under the pilot programme.