17 Mar 2019

Parliament has learnt that Letlhakane Primary Hospital Pharmacy was built a number of years ago and thus has some structural deficiencies that do not meet the current international standards.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Alfred Madigele said there were no alarms and smoke detectors in the pharmacy, but noted that the hospital was undergoing accreditation, hence any deficiencies would be addressed to meet requirements set by accrediting body.

Dr Madigele said all the rooms that were part of the pharmacy had working air conditioning units.

However, he said in the dispensary, one of the conditioners was not working and was currently being assessed for repair by the outsourced maintenance company.

He said the cold room that was installed had temperature fluctuations, which were identified to be due to gas leakage, but noted that the problem was attended to.

“The cold room however still requires additional works to get it to function at optimal level. In the meantime vaccines are being stored in a refrigerator with good temperature control,” he said. Dr Madigele said the ministry was aware of the risks that could result from the aforementioned, but noted that corrective measures had been put in place, especially for vaccines.

He said plans were underway to install the smoke detectors in the financial year 2019/20, adding that other shortfalls were being addressed as part of the ongoing maintenance of the hospital.

Further, the minister said the hospital was being assessed for accreditation and as such any deficiencies would be addressed to meet requirements set by the accrediting body. He was answering Boteti East MP, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe, who had asked if the ministry was aware that Letlhakane Primary Hospital Pharmacy did not meet international standards due to lack of alarms or smoke detectors in the rooms.

He also asked if the ministry was aware of malfunctioning conditioners and that the cold room does not keep temperature low as required and also wanted to find out as to when the problems would be addressed. ENDS