UB teaching hospital opens this financial year
Baboki Kayawe | Thursday May 19, 2016 11:17
This is subsequent to two task teams commissioned by health minister, Dorcas Makgato to set-up referral guidelines while a third looked at the process of decongesting Princess Marina Referral Hospital.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Shenaaz El Halabi told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday that plans are underway to have the national referral hospital decongested to optimise service delivery.
Thus far the two task teams have concluded their job and submitted findings to the ministry. “We are now about to start a consultation process with the community and leaders on this process,” Halabi said.
She further appealed to the public to utilise other health facilities in instances were speciliased care is not needed. For instance, she said low risk pregnant women should seek services from other health centres unless they are referred to Princess Marina. Late last year Makgato revealed that three task forces were set up to look into other niggling issues in the health sector such as decongesting Princess Marina, reviewing referrals and strengthening specialist programmes. Two of the task forces were chaired at superintendent level, while a former permanent secretary is heading the other.
Congestion at the referral hospital is reported to be worsening, with maternity wards worst affected and staff suffering burnout. As a result, the quality of care has been compromised, hospital authorities have revealed. In a media briefing last August officials said the hospital’s 567 beds had to contend with 750 in-patients, weighing on service delivery and quality. Absenteeism was said to be on the rise as staff file sick notes to get away from the depressing demand for their services.
The hospital’s clinical director, Dr Ishmael Makone, said the facility received about 100 patients daily in the accident and emergency department, of which 60 percent are admitted. Consequently, the bed occupancy rate exceeds 100 percent.
Moreover, he said overcrowding was worsened by the absence of a district hospital in Gaborone, meaning that patients go directly from clinics to the referral hospital. Population growth in Gaborone and surrounding villages also contribute to the congestion.
“Most commonly affected areas are the maternity wards, post-natal wards, gynaecology and neonatal wards and some surgical wards,” Makone said.
Meanwhile the teaching hospital will service the Faculty of Medicine as a teaching unit as well as a referral hospital under the Ministry of Health.