20 May 2014

The Francistown District Health Management Team (DHMT) is faced with a challenge of shortage of medical doctors.



The district needs about 25 doctors to add to the available 12 to ensure that the district’s health facilities and surrounding areas could be fully covered.



This was revealed by the deputy district commissioner, Mr Boyce Mangole when presenting the Urban Development Committee (UDC) report to the Francistown full council meeting on May 19.

Responding to the report, councillors complained of congestion at health facilities and long hours taken by patients waiting for consultation by doctors.  Cllr for Phillip Matante East, Mr Shadreck Nyeku noted that with a total of 12 doctors for the district, the ratio would be 1: 8000 and this explained congestion at health facilities. 


He said despite the challenges faced by the DHMT, they never honoured an invitation by the council’s education, health and social services committee to come together and discuss prevailing challenges. 



Furthermore, Cllr Nyeku said the Minister of Health recently informed the nation that it was the duty of the medical staff to request prescribed drugs on behalf of their patients from other health facilities if such drugs were not available. He said such an arrangement was not happening.

Cllr Ace Ntheetsang of Kanana ward lamented that the 24-hour Gerald Estate clinic, which had a maternity wing, did not have a medical doctor.

The facility, he added, had no security guards and backup generator following the theft of its battery. 

 On other issues, the councillors called on the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) to adopt the Centre for the Deaf that catered for children with special needs to improve the its academic results.



Commenting, cllr for Ikageng, Mr Tabengwa Tabengwa said since he became a councillor in 1994, the school had never registered a pass. 

 He noted that last year’s results for Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE), from the eight students that sat for the examination, all of them failed with the school registering zero per cent pass rate. 



In his response, Mr Mangole said they would consult with the relevant authorities regarding the school performance and they would give feedback. 


The deputy district commissioner said they were still consulting with the Ministry of Health to allocate more doctors to the district.

 In terms of security at health facilities, Mr Mangole said something was being done to address the situation. Ends