06 Aug 2015

Assistant Minister of Health, Dr Alfred Madigele says it is not an expectation that medical doctors should manage health facilities.

Dr Madigele noted that there were 564 clinics in the country which were managed by nurses.

He added that primary hospitals, district and referral hospitals as well as District Health Management teams with the exception of six, were managed by medical doctors.

He said medical training by design, in addition to imparting the knowledge of medicine, inculcated the spirit of team work and management of human resources.

Therefore, he said whenever medical doctors assume administrative responsibilities, it was an extension of their professional roles, as they were deemed able and capable of managing health facilities and health system.

“Notwithstanding the above, the choice of prospective managers to manage health facilities is contingent on the level of experience, motivation to lead and a high sense of responsibility and can be a medical doctor, a nurse or even a pharmacist,” he said.

He said the current doctor/patient ratio in government facilities was 1:3 217 which was against the recommended ration of 1:2 353 in NDP 10.

Okavango MP, Mr Bagalatia Arone had asked the minister why medical doctors in the country were expected to manage health facilities in view of the fact that they were trained to manage medically related operations, and not general institutional management. He also wanted the minister to state the recommended doctor/patient ration in the Botswana Health Services. Ends