18 Oct 2017

Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital matron, Ms Dintelo Moetse has complained that mass transfer of nurses from the facility has affected service delivery.

She said about 80 nurses had been transferred out and some had been replaced while others had not reported for duty.

Currently, she said they had a shortfall of 36 nurses, yet the hospital operates 24/7.

She aired her concerns during a meeting addressed by Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs Governance and Public Administration, Mr Thato Kwerepe.

She said about 80 nurses were transferred to Ngamiland District and no one had reported for duty.

“This is a serious destruction to service delivery and at times we end up compromising quality because of shortage,” she added.

Ms Moetse further appreciated that the hospital had received specialists, and that meant more workload as they needed more than two nurses each to assist them.

She emphasised the need to have a specialist for orthopedic as currently patients travel as far as Mahalapye to access services.

She also pointed out that they had 13 midwives who work on shifts, adding that they were overwhelmed as other primary hospitals such as Gumare, Ghanzi, Rakops and Gweta refer patients to them.

The matron said two of them were resigning.

Furthermore, she noted that they had been working with temporary midwives on yearly basis and now they have no money to continue engaging them.

Ms Moetse requested the government to consider engaging retired midwives to ensure continuity in service delivery.

Earlier on, Ngami District Health Management Team (DHMT) coordinator, Dr Malebogo Pusoentsi shared some challenges faced by employees in the district.

She concurred that shortage of staff had negatively impacted service delivery.

She said there were a lot of vacancies in all cadres, noting that they were forced to refer patients to Francistown to access high quality services.

Other challenges she mentioned included shortage of office space, which has affected departments such as Broadcasting Services, Information Services, Maun Administration Authority and DHMT.

Dr Pusoentsi also informed the assistant minister that the district needed transport to access other areas especially those in the delta.

Another challenge mentioned was shortage of accommodation for public servants.

Some employees from the Department of Administration of Justice complained that priority was given to magistrates only when it comes to accommodation.

They said their lives were at risk as they stayed in the village with accused persons and requested ministries to consider staff accommodation when building offices.

For his part, Mr Kwerepe appreciated all challenges faced by employees, but stated that they should not deter their efforts to serve the communities diligently.

The deputy director from Directorate of Public Service Management, Mr Victor Manyanda said although government said there was no growth, DHMT should request for more staff.

He appreciated that the little personnel was overstretched and emphasised that there was that provision to request staff with justification.ENDS