Patients and their relatives are reportedly facing difficulties after the booth- and app-based ambulance service at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) was suspended.
The service was reportedly halted following a newspaper report published on September 2. Since then, allegations have surfaced that the organised ambulance management system has been disrupted, with patients and their relatives once again becoming dependent on brokers to arrange emergency transport.
Under the booth- and app-based system, ambulances were dispatched according to a serial queue. Patients and their relatives could request an ambulance through a designated booth, reducing dependence on intermediaries and making the service more organised.
Following the suspension, relatives allegedly have to approach brokers to arrange ambulances quickly and, in some cases, pay additional charges. The situation has also reportedly made ambulance coordination more difficult for hospital authorities.
There are allegations that some ambulance operators demanded an additional Tk 100–150 before agreeing to transport patients, even when their vehicles were next in the designated queue. Allegations have been made against several individuals known as Oli, Shahidul and ‘Kala Joynal’. The claims, however, require verification from the individuals concerned.
Meanwhile, the ambulance owners’ association says its members have provided free ambulance services to poor and disadvantaged patients on humanitarian grounds. The association has urged that such assistance be taken into consideration when assessing the overall ambulance service system.
Patients’ relatives and service users have called for greater transparency in ambulance fares, strict adherence to the serial-based dispatch system, effective monitoring and a formal grievance mechanism to reduce irregularities and ensure timely emergency transport.
FP/A
