Private ambulance owners at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) have launched an indefinite strike demanding designated parking space, disrupting patient transfers and leaving families struggling to transport critically ill patients and deceased relatives.
The strike began on Tuesday morning (27 October), with some families forced to wait for hours for an ambulance or use alternative vehicles, including vans and trolleys, to transport patients and bodies.
According to the ambulance owners, they had previously been allowed to park inside the hospital premises. However, after the current director, Brigadier General AKM Md Farhad Hossain, took charge, their vehicles were removed from the area.
They later cleaned a space beneath the hospital's new building to use as a parking area and installed CCTV cameras, lights and a gate. However, their ambulances were subsequently removed from there as well.
Shahadat Hossain Sachchu, a member of the DMCH Private Ambulance Owners Cooperative Society, told The Business Standard that repeated discussions with the hospital director had failed to resolve the dispute.
"We have discussed the issue with the director before, but no parking arrangement has been made for us. We hope the director will make arrangements for us," he said.
Around 70–80 private ambulances operate at the hospital, transporting patients to other hospitals and taking them home after treatment, Sachchu said.
"If we are not allowed to keep our vehicles inside a government medical college hospital, we have to park them outside. But traffic police file cases against us if we park on the roads. We are suffering from all sides," he said, adding that similar parking-related problems affect ambulance owners and drivers at other public medical college hospitals.
The owners have not set a timeframe for ending the strike, saying they will continue the programme until a parking arrangement is made.
However, DMCH Director Brigadier General AKM Farhad Hossain said the hospital would not provide permanent parking for private ambulances inside its premises, citing a shortage of space.
He said the decision was taken to reduce the suffering of patients and their relatives, ease traffic congestion in front of the emergency department and restore order on the hospital premises.
"We do not have enough space in the hospital. How can we arrange parking for them?" he said.
The director warned that if ambulance owners held patients hostage through the strike, law enforcement agencies would take action against vehicles parked illegally on the roads.
He said ambulances would be allowed to enter the hospital to drop off patients and return when needed to pick them up, but they would not be permitted to remain parked on the premises.
The hospital has also closed a room temporarily provided to the private ambulance owners' association near the emergency department. The space will instead be arranged for patients' relatives to sit, the director said.
He added that many patients come to the hospital from remote parts of the country and are unfamiliar with the surrounding area. Due to the lack of space, the hospital cannot provide adequate seating for their relatives, some of whom risk being deceived while waiting outside.
Meanwhile, the strike has added to the difficulties of patients and their families, particularly those needing to transfer critically ill patients or take deceased relatives home. Some families have resorted to vans and trolleys after failing to find ambulances.
The day before the strike, on Monday, a section of the private ambulance owners' association held a human chain inside the hospital's garden gate, demanding permanent parking facilities, fixed fares and other measures.