Millions of vital health equipment sits idle
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 27, 2023 06:00
At Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital an Act Scan machine seconded from Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital was never installed for use and has remained inactive for a long time.
The AG’s report for March 31, 2021, released recently reveals that efforts to establish the cost of the machine and date of delivery were not successful due to unavailability of documentation as the equipment was said to have been received some years back. “It was noted that the hospital had received an Audio Booth on 10 January 2020 through Gen 12 Number 03777042.
The booth had not been installed as it was not requested. According to the hospital management, the audiology unit did not need the audio booth. Efforts to establish the price from the ministry were not successful as they could not produce the source documents like invoices and Government Purchase Order (GPO),” the AG’s report says.
It further points out that again at the time of the audit in July 2021, two lab-freeze medical refrigerators that were received on July 14, 2020, through Gen 12 03244596 and 03244597 had remained in the warehouse without being issued to users. In that regard, the reasons for not issuing the equipment on time were not advanced to auditors.
Still on idling equipment, during inspection of hospital facilities, instances were noted where some equipment was either not put to use or dysfunctional, the report reveals. The audit report says the medical refrigerator that was purchased at a cost of P52,224 had not functioned since delivery. “At the time of the audit, the necessary steps to address the issue had not been taken by either returning the fridge or fix. Efforts to get the delivery notes or Gen 12s of the refrigerator in order to establish a delivery date proved futile. “An X-Ray machine was also reported to have never been used since installation due to the dental clinic’s failure to get a license for use.
The reason for not obtaining a license was because the clinic walls were not led for protection from radiation rays,” the report reveals. It was observed that equipment in the dental clinic did not have government serial numbers. The audit reveals that in the absence of efficient measures of organisation and supervision within the ministry, government assets may not have any economic benefit or no value adding to the ministry. At Kareng and Makakung Clinics, a contractor was engaged to attend water supply faults on September 24, 2020 at a quoted price of P28,112 but the GPO was issued at an amount of P49,692 while covering only one clinic.
According to the report, there was no explanation for why the GPO did not match the original quotation. Meanwhile, at Gantsi Primary Hospital a contract was outsourced for fuel supply as a backup plan.
The audit found that there was a formal contract signed between the two parties. “The reconciliation of the account was also not effective as the audit noted an amount of P1,075,975 which was still unaccounted for,” the audited report reveals. On food procurement, it states that the hospital did not have any food contracts with suppliers for the financial year 2020/21. It found out that the food tender failed because most suppliers’ tender documents were missing the required attachments. However, the Procurement Unit failed to provide evaluation reports and submissions from suppliers to verify that there were missing required documents.
The audit report says the procurement unit explained that the purchases were made from different suppliers that were directly chosen based on reliability. However, it observed that failure to put companies through competitive processes could open doors for abuse of the procurement process. On the issue of ambulance accidents, it says an examination of records relating to ambulance accidents revealed that one driver, who was appointed on March 31, 2020, as an ambulance driver had accumulated a total of three accidents in a period of 11 months. “It was reported that the driver had eyesight issues and was not subjected to any eye tests upon resumption of her duties as should have been procedure. The accidents had cost the Ministry a total of P155,928 for repairs of the three vehicles damaged.
One of the three ambulances was now grounded and not repaired,” the report reveals. Meanwhile, at Shakawe Primary Hospital, construction of 70 bed in 2017 was meant to greatly improve access to health services for the community. The report says the estimated cost of the project was (P480,999 172 though the contract was awarded at a lesser price of P309,898 812.) PLEASE VERIFY THESE FIGURES. “Auditors were unable to verify the conformity of the project to its deliverables as some of the critical records like final account statement, evaluation reports for mechanical services, electrical services and consultancy services were not availed for audit. Furthermore, withholding tax liability could not be established as the supporting documents were not availed for audit,” the report reveals.