Chadibe villagers plead for health post upgrading
Pini Bothoko | Thursday August 27, 2015 16:30
They have recommended that the health post be upgraded to match the growing population.
Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson Bakani Thembe revealed in an interview that their current health post is failing to accommodate the fast growing village population.
He said that their village is faced with a number of challenges in the area of health. Thembe said that their health post currently operates with only one nurse without a doctor thus making it difficult for the sole officer to provide quality service. They lost another nurse who went for further studies and has not been replaced for three months now.
“We have just lost the nurse who was trained to assist patients on Anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs and people are struggling now because the nurse we have is not trained to offer such a service,” he said.
He noted that the during morning shift, the nurse serves general patients who form long queues and overcrowd the ward, which makes work difficult for the under-staffed health workers.
“At times, we spend the whole day without a nurse as the one we have also offers services to the people of Lekoba cattlepost far from our village and can be absent for the whole day,” said Thembe. He said with their growing population influenced by the village’s proximity to Francistown, they need a full time doctor to serve the village and its environs.
Thembe said that the situation is of concern in emergencies, especially at night. He said that currently residents struggle as they travel to Borolong health post where a doctor occasionally visits.
“Our patients here are being referred to Borolong health post to see a doctor.
This also cannot be relied upon as he serves other neighbouring villages. Some patients now opt to go as far as Francistown for medical services,” said Thembe.
Thembe said the state of affairs has resulted in some patients losing hope in the health system ending up staying at home, more especially people with chronic ailments, thereby putting their health at risk. Thembe called upon government to upgrade their health post and include other health services such as a maternity wing. Quizzed about the villagers’ concerns the Member of Parliament for Shashe West Fidelis Molao said he was aware of them (the concerns), as the villagers have raised them several times.
Molao revealed that the plan to upgrade health posts in the entire country is an ongoing process, which requires a lot of funds and personnel.
“It will be difficult for me to state time and date now, but it will be done as it is in the National Development Plan (NDP) 11,” said Molao.