15 Mar 2020

The Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe says there is a need to have a district hospital in Francistown.

He explained that according to the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) plan, a district hospital was proposed for construction during 2018/19 and the project was not implemented due to budget constraints.

Mr Lelatisitswe said the ministry was aware that Monarch Location in Francistown was heavily populated prompting residents to seek health attention at Jubilee and Area W clinics.

He said he was aware that Monarch was currently being serviced by Ntshe and Botshelo clinics.

He told the house that his ministry would continue to encourage communities to utilise local clinics for the services that could also be provided in the hospitals.

Mr Lelatisitwe said the ministry would not consider opening dispensaries on a 24-hour basis due to insufficient number of pharmacies and pharmacy technicians.

He however noted that in all hospital pharmacies there was at least one officer on call to provide services after hours if such a need arose while pharmacies issued all relevant medicines to wards to be used for patients that were admitted.

The assistant minister further stated that he was aware that Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital catered for all patients from north of Botswana and the opening of the hospital was not meant to disadvantage Francistown residents but to serve as a referral hospital in the northern region of the country.

He however said due to limited resources, the district hospital had not been constructed to relieve Nyangabgwe from other general services that were not intended to be provided in the facility.

According to the Assistant Minister, Nyangabgwe Hospital currently catered for patients referred from hospitals in the Northern Region and general patients from Francistown and surrounding villages.

The Francistown West legislator, Mr Ignatius Moswaane had asked the minister if he was aware that Monarch location in Francistown had about 15 000 people and if he would consider upgrading the Phase Five clinic to a 24-hour clinic to assist residents forced to travel long distances to seek health attention at alternative facilities such as Jubilee and Area W. Mr Moswaane also wanted to know if the minister was aware that Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital catered for all patients from north of Botswana and that disadvantaged Francistown residents.

In addition, he asked the minister whether he was aware of the need for Francistown to have a district hospital due to the large population that had to be attended at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital.

MP Moswaane further asked if the minister would not consider opening dispensaries on a 24 hour basis at major hospitals in the country. Ends