�We did not lose 11 patients in a week�

Onalenna Kelebeile | Thursday September 18, 2014 14:38

The claims first emerged during an Umbrella for Democratic Change’s political rally on Sunday and quickly spread within the mining town, causing panic among residents.

However, the hospital’s public relations officer, Onalethata Nkwe, told Mmegi publication that the Hospital did not have 11 deaths as reported at the rally, adding that drug availability is actually very high.

“According to our records, the information is not true as we did not have 11 deaths, and our drug availability is very high,” she said.

“Our life-saving drug availability stands at 98 percent while availability of improving quality of life drugs stands at 89 percent.

“The average drug availability sits at 92 percent therefore we cannot say that people lost their lives due to lack of drugs.”

She said while patients will unfortunately lose their lives while being cared for at the hospital from time to time, their primary goal is to treat them in the hope that they get healed and discharged.

Nkwe also dismissed reports of poor staffing that the UDC claimed was driving death rates upwards. She instead said staff has been allocated in different in-patient wards and patients are managed adequately.

“We employed more nurses recently and this increased the number of staff members we have been having. That resulted in us establishing Botshabelo Clinic as a 24-hour operating facility from the beginning of this month,” she stated.

Meanwhile, Selebi Phikwe Government Hospital has been accredited to the Council of Health Services Accreditation of Southern Africa (COHSASA), a full council meeting was told last month.

During the full council, Town Mayor, Tebogo Matlhogonolo said the hospital is hampered by a serious shortage of transport, which negatively impacts on service delivery.

He however, said the Ministry of Health is availing funds for purchase of spare parts from private garages in order to remedy the situation.