08 Dec 2019

Kgatleng community is banking on government’s promise to  relocate Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital in Mochudi to a more customer-friendly location.

This was said by Mochudi West Member of Parliament, Mr Mmusi Kgafela in his debate of the State-of-the-Nation address on December 6.

Mr Kgafela said the current location of the hospital was not easily accessible to the sick, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Mr Mmusi also noted that not only the location of the hospital was a concern, but its dilapidated status made it impossible for the facility to be user-friendly and to deliver quality health services to the constituents.

He said the construction of a new hospital in Mochudi had long been drafted and captured in the National Development Plan 11, volume 2, page 26 and it was recorded that the sum of P410 million would be allocated for the hospital.

 He further said the population of Mochudi West had also increased in recent years due to its proximity to Gaborone, turning Kgatleng into an urban cosmopolitan area. 

This, he said’ also impacted on the overstretching of resources in Kgatleng.

In the interim, and pending the possible construction of a government hospital in Kgatleng, Mr Kgafela challenged the Minister of Health and Wellness to take a keen interest on Kgatleng residents healthcare, and lead the development of a renewed and innovative partnership model to progress Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital into an efficient national hospital of repute.

“I believe there is room for radical, audacious interventions in the health sector generally, but also specifically for the constituency of Mochudi West,” he said.

He said there was a need to align the healthcare facilities to global standards and improve the conditions for the citizens who served in their capacity as healthcare practitioners.

He called for measures to address the shortage of medicine and personnel in his constituency, which he said affected service delivery.

Mr Kgafela, however, applauded government efforts for the provision of quality healthcare in reference to its commitment to the global call to universal health coverage and development goals, especially Target 3.8, which advocates for achieving universal health coverage.

He endorsed government’s commitment to delivering quality healthcare services to Batswana, by developing and implementing various preventative and curative programmes and improved service delivery.

His constituents, he said, were grateful for the upgrading of Makgophana Clinic as well as the construction of nurses’ houses.

Furthermore, Mr Kgafela complained about the backlog of cases at the high court, which he attributed to shortage of judges and magistrates.

 He decried that disputed government development projects were usually halted due to delayed court litigations surrounding them.

He said since judges were usually overwhelmed, the government could develop sub courts such as commercial and corruption courts to deal with specific matters and reduce the backlogs at the high courts. ends