Dhangadi, July 10

Middlemen and agents of various private hospitals and clinics are seen active at Seti Zonal Hospital in Dhangadi, Kailali. They persuade patients to visit different private hospitals of Dhangadi for better treatment.

A large number of patients from different districts of the province are referred to Seti Zonal Hospital on a daily basis.

Patients from all nine districts of the province reach the hospital with the hope of getting better treatment at affordable price, but the agents and middlemen persuade patients to visit private hospitals and clinics adding financial burden on their heads.

A staffer at the hospital said that the agents persuaded patients to receive treatment at private hospitals creating doubts about health services at the hospital. “The agents even succeed in persuading patients admitted in the hospital,” he said. He added that the hospital administration could do nothing to stop such activities on the premises of the hospital itself.

Medical interns at the hospital, staffers of the hospital and some outsiders work as middlemen on the premise of the hospital. Some of the staffers and doctors working at the hospital have opened their own private clinics near the hospital. Staffers and doctors spend more time at their own private clinics and remain absent from the hospital even during duty hours.

Medical Superintendent Dr Sajan KC at the zonal hospital said that they had not received any complaints against such staffers and doctors. He said medical interns and some outsiders were caught red-handed. “We caught three to four students and warned them not to do such things in the future,” he added.

“Outsiders in collusion with hospital staffers and doctors persuade patients to go to private hospitals,” he said.

Earlier, the hospital administration had taken action against a few middlemen involved in similar cases. But it did not solve the problem.

Dr KC said the hospital administration could do nothing against staffers as no complaint had been filed against them. He added that problems had increased due to lack of regular monitoring and inspection from the authorities concerned.