Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital overwhelmed with high workload
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday August 27, 2024 09:55
Kgetsi was addressing the dignitaries during the Chinese medical team orientation held recently at the Cresta Thapama Hotel. Despite being referred to as a small hospital, Kgetsi said that there is a high workload because they see more patients than Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone.
He said while Marina serves the southern part of the country, the NHR admits patients from a wide variety of regions, making up nearly two thirds of Botswana. NHR serves a population of over one million people and served under 532-bed capacity hospital but in terms of admission, they have admission of patients close to 600.
He stated that they assist more patients than Princess Marina Hospital because patients in Gaborone have options and are spoilt for choice due to the availability of many private hospitals situated in the area. Additionally, he explained that unlike in Francistown where there are only two private hospitals, Gaborone has more of such facilities. For example, Francistown has only two private hospitals, namely, the Riverside Hospital and the Francistown Academic Teaching Hospital. Kgetsi further said that even though there are private hospitals in the north, the majority of them still refer their patients to the NRH. “That is why in terms of hospital, our workload will be more. This is the message that we want the whole country to understand that we see more patients. We have a higher workload despite being labelled as a small facility,” he added.
Speaking on their annual performance, he indicated that in 2023, the NHR recorded close to 42, 000 inpatients and about 91 680 outpatients from different outpatients clinics. He also highlighted that they registered about 17, 500 patients at accidents and emergency services (A&E) and 12, 088 patients at the dental unit, which people can presume is small.
He said they admit referrals from clinics in Francistown and even in neighbouring villages, which are under the Greater Francistown District Health Management Team (DHMT).
“The clinics are under a different leadership but because they do not have a district hospital, they use the NHR as their primary hospital,” he added.
He also said that the NHR has 43 specialists and 70 medical officers. According to Kgetsi, 35 medical officers were sent to school to specialise in different areas. He hoped that they will be getting more medical officers to replace the ones who left for further studies.
Speaking to the Chinese specialists, Kgetsi emphasised that they should always be available because they will also be providing care for medical staff from distant primary or district hospitals. Instead of telling the doctor to refer the patients to the NHR, which is very expensive, Kgetsi suggested that specialists should attempt to assist with instructions or training, which is more affordable.
“The majority of our patients are from the rural areas, so we need to make sure they are comfortable when visiting the hospital and treat them with respect. As a medical professional, you should never send a patient home without at least offering some assistance. Some people travel over 800 kilometres to seek medical assistance,” he added.
The NHR has four campuses: the main campus, where the majority of services are offered; Jubilee, where 20 patients can be admitted for mental health and psychiatry, dental services, TB and isolation wards. The referral hospital also operates differently from other hospitals as they offer a lot of services in-house including a special clinic for diabetes, endocrinology and a laboratory.