31 Mar 2019

Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Biggie Butale says plans to open Letlhakane Clinic 24 hours are in place.

Mr Butale said the clinic would be operated 24 hours to decongest Letlhakane Primary Hospital when resources permitted.

He said the development required professional and support staff to run the facility on a shift basis. Mr Butale said other requirements included strengthening of security to ensure staff safety and provision of adequate transport to cater for referrals and call outs.

Furthermore, he said the hospital had been prioritised in NDP 11, and was initially proposed for implementation during 2018/19 financial year. However, he said the project could not be accommodated in the budget due to ceiling constraints. 

He said it had also not been accommodated in the 2019/2020 financial year for the same reasons. 

Assistant Minister Butale also indicated that his ministry had not received any incident of patient-nurse fights within the outpatient department due to congestion.

The MP for Boteti East, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe had asked the minister if he was aware of the patient-nurse fights within the outpatient department at Letlhakane Primary Hospital due to congestion and long waiting periods caused by shortage of staff or doctors. 

He also asked the minister if there were plans to open one of the clinics in Letlhakane for 24 hours to ease congestion, and what resources were needed for the development and progress regarding the construction of Letlhakane hospital. ENDS