04 Mar 2019

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Alfred Madigele has promised that problems besieging Nyangabwe Referral Hospital will be attended to expeditiously.

Dr Madigele said this in an interview following a tour of the hospital recently. He said there was need to address shortage of equipment and personnel, particularly the nursing cadre at the facility.

“I have realised that there is an imbalance of nurse/patient ratio in all the wards that I have visited, and that some equipment such as the Citi scan and MRI scan are not working,” he said adding that there was need to take swift action to repair them.

Furthermore, Dr Madigele said that his ministry was engaging the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) on the issue of staff recruitment to address shortage of health personnel. He was, however, happy that in the midst of all the shortcomings, Nyangabgwe hospital staff remained committed as ever in the execution of their duties.

“Nyangabgwe is also one of the cleanest facilities across the country, and the management and employees need to be given a pat on the back for the effort,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister Madigele expressed concern regarding growing public discontent about unpleasant behaviour by some employees within the ministry.

“It has come to our attention as management that there are some people within our employ who do not treat members of the public well, and we are working towards finding a solution to this problem,” he said. 

Equally worrying to Dr Madigele were unfortunate incidents where health personnel had been reported to have been physically abused by members of the public. He said the ministry was working around the clock to address the challenge.

Member of Parliament for Francistown West, Mr Ignatius Moswaane, who formed part of the minister’s tour, was happy about Dr Madigele’s visit, saying it helped the latter get first-hand information about the status of the referral hospital.

“It is my legitimate expectation that things will take a positive turn and improve for the better following minister Madigele’s visit to Nyangabgwe,’ he said.

He said as a referral hospital entrusted with providing health care to the northern part of Botswana, Nyangabgwe must have drugs, personnel and equipment that was comparable with its status. 

In future, the Francistown West MP would like to see the establishment of an independent health commission which would monitor all the health facilities across the country, and not the status quo where the Ministry of Health and Wellness was both “the player and the referee” on health matters.

He agreed with Dr Madigele that health workers should always maintain professional conduct in their interactions with members of the public and avoid engaging in disputes with the clientele. ends