Bangladesh political turmoil disrupts patient inflow to Kolkata hospitals

Kolkata: The ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh has adversely impacted the inflow of patients from the neighbouring country to Kolkata hospitals primarily due to delays in issuance of visas and fear psychosis among them, officials said.

"The Peerless Hospital has seen a drastic drop in the footfall of patients from Bangladesh, and the impact is on both outpatient and inpatient workload," a senior official of the medical establishment said.

A similar drop was registered in other facilities like the Woodlands Multispecialty Hospital, Desun Hospital, and Manipal Hospitals, officials said.

"There has been a drastic drop in footfall of patients from Bangladesh, impacting both outpatient and inpatient departments. The drop is close to 90 per cent," Peerless Hospital managing director Ravindra Pai told PTI.

"The current political turmoil in Bangladesh and marked reduction in the issuance of visas are the primary reasons for it," Pai said.

On the fate of the scheduled surgeries, the Peerless Hospital MD said, "Now, with the delay in visas, there is no question of scheduling the surgeries. In case patients start coming, we are geared to conduct the surgeries." Talking to PTI, managing director & CEO of Woodlands Multispecialty Hospital Limited Rupak Barua said, "There has been a sharp decline in patient inflow from Bangladesh in the last four months." He said although there is not a single person from Bangladesh admitted to the medical establishment at the moment, "the monthly surgery numbers have not changed." "Although the number of OPD patients from Bangladesh has fallen by 50 per cent in the last four months at Woodlands, the monthly OT numbers have remained constant. However, there are no admitted patients from Bangladesh at Woodlands currently," Barua said.

"The reason for the fall could be attributed to delays in the issuance of medical visas due to deteriorating bilateral relations and fear psychosis," he said, adding that "the last surgery of a Bangladeshi patient was a caesarean section around 15 days ago, and no surgeries could be scheduled after that." Desun Hospitals Group director Shaoli Dutta said they registered nearly a 60 per cent drop in Bangladeshi patients.

She said, "The decline started in August at the time of the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh." "The number of Bangladeshi patients seeking treatment in Kolkata, including at Desun Hospitals, has significantly reduced. Across the city, there has been a drop of nearly 75 per cent in the inflow of Bangladeshi patients, and we have also observed a similar trend," Dutta told PTI.

"The decline started in August, coinciding with the unrest in Bangladesh. However, the dip has been more pronounced since October following the arrest of monk Chinmay Krishna Das, which seems to have further impacted cross-border patient movement. Before August, Desun Hospitals received an average of 900-1,000 Bangladeshi patients monthly. This figure has decreased by approximately 60 per cent," she said.

Manipal Hospitals (East) has also witnessed a similar drop in patient inflow from Bangladesh and a rise in online consultations, a senior official said.

"At Manipal Hospitals, we have not refused any patient because, for us, patient care comes first and foremost. There has been a drop in the OPD and admission numbers across our hospitals," regional COO of Manipal Hospitals (East), Dr Ayanabh Debgupta, told PTI.

"However, we are ensuring continuity of care for our old patients over telemedicine. Some of them, who managed to get a medical visa due to urgent health conditions, have availed treatment here as well, and no planned surgeries have been deferred so far. Online consultations are rising, and we are facilitating this so that patients are guided clinically," he added.

Officials of Apollo Hospitals, however, declined to share any information in this connection.

A spokesperson of the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) said, "Since the Covid pandemic, there have been no Bangladeshis seeking treatment at our hospital." The crisis has also affected Bangladeshi patient inflow to Techno India DAMA Hospital and Disha Eye Hospitals, an official said.

"There’s a sudden decline of around 20 per cent patient inflow from Bangladesh. We used to get patients related to the cases of infertility and chemotherapy. Chemotherapy patients are still attending despite the daunting situation there in Bangladesh," the MD of Techno India DAMA Hospital, Dr. MS Purkait, said.