Phikwe Government Hospital Hit By Shortage Of Specialists
Onalenna Kelebeile | Monday September 3, 2018 11:43
As a result the waiting period for gynae clinic at the hospital is eight months. The biggest challenge is that the gynae patients are booked at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital where the waiting period runs to 2021. For now, the only specialist service provided is that of a physician.
Moreover, the Laundromat at the hospital has also not been operating for a year and laundry is currently done at other health facilities outside town, which comes at a cost.
Possibilities of outsourcing the laundry services are being explored. The town’s civic leaders have not taken kindly to this situation and have resolved to take the matters to the Minister of Health to see how the situation can be addressed. The leaders expressed concern that diseases like cancer can be treated if detected early, but the situation poses a serious health challenge if patients are to wait until 2021.
They further said the situation has the potential to increase mortality rate. Councillor Tlhabologo Sethuba is worried that delays in the construction of a new government hospital would obviously result in financial implications because prices for materials rise each day.
The new health facility was scheduled to have commenced in April this year. The sustainability report is currently being compiled and will then be handed to the Department of Buildings and Engineering Services for implementation and funds for the project are yet to be released. Sethuba said the 2021 bookings are a threat to human lives, adding that even heart scans are not done except registrations only.
“Patients even wait long for a normal scan and x-ray services unlike in the past where these were same day services. We need to call the relevant Minister to come and appreciate the situation here,” she said at a recent full council meeting.
Councillors also said it has been a long time since the laundry services are done in places like Bobonong and Palapye which they said is not right hence those relevant must speed up to address the situation.
Meanwhile, the District Health Management Team here has been awarded a trophy on the best programme in the country in June this year. The programme is on reduction of malnutrition with the Nutrition centre being the direct feeding centre.
The two clinics that offer cervical cancer services being Botshabelo and Industrial are doing well with 105 women screened for Visual Inspection of the cervix with Acetic Acid (VIA) and 104 at Industrial Clinic. At Botshabelo, 11 women tested VIA positive and one case of suspected cervical cancer while at Industrial six tested VIA positive.
The District Officer-Development, Neo Mogorosi informed the council meeting that there is good performance at both clinics and good attendance by the community. He also said the Industrial Clinic VIA site that was opened in February this year is fully functional and screening and cryotherapy are done at the same time.
“VIA has lessened the complaints of cervical cancer screening results,” he said.
On the drug availability council was informed that the Central Medical Store service level is very low at 34% and that the DHMT procures most of the drugs from private pharmacies.