Letlhakane hospital lab in system breakdown
Siyabonga Gaetshajwe | Wednesday March 20, 2019 15:58
Responding to a question from Member of Parliament for Boteti East, Sethomo Lelatisitswe the minister pointed out that they were aware that the Chemistry Machine was old and had a frequent breakdown since September 2018.
Madigele added that the CD4 machine had also experienced problems as it failed calibration test and had a faulty motherboard.
Lelatisitswe had asked the minister during a parliamentary debate if he was aware that for the good part of 2018, CD4 and chemistry tests were not done at Letlhakane Primary Hospital Laboratory and if so what is the importance of the two tests in disease control and why the Ministry has denied Boteti East constituents access to these tests.
Lelatisitswe had also asked the minister whether he was aware Nyangabgwe and Sekgoma Memorial Hospital laboratories declined to do samples from Letlhakane Primary Hospital and if so, give reasons.
“CD4 Machine after July 2018 was not functional as it was failing calibration, and had motherboard problem. Chemistry and CD4 tests are important for managing and monitoring diseases and help determine how well different organs are functioning including in HIV patients,” said Madigele.
“Fortunately a new chemistry and CD4 machines were installed and fully functional in December 2018 and February 2019 respectively.”
Madigele added that there was a time when there was a communication with NRH for sending chemistry samples to them provided Boteti DHMT sends a lab technician to run the samples as they were short-staffed.
This did not work well for Boteti DHMT due to budgetary constraints and the DHMT opted to send the samples to Rakops.
“Letlhakane Primary Hospital Laboratory currently has five technical personnel and that there are no vacant posts for lab personnel, hence there are no plans to deploy more officers,” he said.