16 Mar 2020

Ministry of Health and Wellness is working to address challenges faced by the North West District, which include shortage of staff, drugs, transport, equipment, constant break-down of CD4 count and X-ray machines and the bad state of Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital.

Health minister, Dr Lemogang Kwape assured North West District councillors of efforts to improve efficiency, stating that old equipment would be replaced in the current financial year.

He said a tender to procure X-ray machines was at evaluation stage and expected to be delivered by October.

Dr Kwape said construction of the X-ray unit as part of the refurbishment of the old Maun General Clinic would offer back-up service to the district.

In case of emergency, the district, he said, would outsource radiology services.

Of the two X-ray machines available at Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital, only one is functional.

The minister noted that the functional equipment continued to experience intermittent functionality due to unstable electricity supply and to address the challenge, the ministry had put in place a a system that protects the machines when power goes off.

Councillors were also informed that last year, the referral hospital received four delivery beds, 30 hospital beds, 10 trolleys, six ICU beds with monitors and Ear Nose and Throat surgery equipment, among others.

It was also reported that the hospital was equipped with laboratory equipment, which included new CD4 count machines, viral load machines, hematology and chemistry machines.

However, Dr Kwape pointed out that the chemistry machine was not working and the facility referred specimen to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in Francistown.

He said other laboratory machines would be catered for in the new tender to be floated end of March and expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of the financial year.

The house also learnt that currently, availability of reagents for Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital stood at 98 per cent while the minister explained that shortage of medicines was a challenge country wide due to various reasons.

He staed that a warehouse was established in order to improve medicine distribution within the district.

Dr Kwape appreciated that Ngamiland District Health Management Teams continued to enjoy the benefits of micro procurement vote to enable them to supplement their unique needs without going through Central Medicine Stores.

He also highlighted that the CMS Electronic Management and Tracking System would be installed at Letsholathebe Referral Hospital in the financial year 2021/22.

Regarding the state of the hospital, he said following the ministry’s commitment that maintenance of the facility would be done in a phased approach, some developments were done and completed end of February.

The developments referred to include; repairs on the kitchen freezer room, cold room, mortuary units and maintenance of air conditioning units while repairs on building management system and hot water plant would be done during financial year 2020/21.

The minister reported that boilers repair and maintenance were ongoing and stood at 95 per cent, await commissioning.

He also noted that the tender for remedial works on roof leakages was awarded to Bohua company last year November and would cost more than P7 million, but explained that an agreement was reached with the contractor to halt the project until the rainy season was over. 

The project completion date is end of the year.

The house also learnt that Maun Old Hospital was being refurbished with the project at 63 per cent completion. 

Services to be administered there include a 24-hour maternity clinic, accident and emergency facility, oral health services, x-ray unit and outpatient department with specialist services to ensure that continuous quality health services are brought closer to the people. Ends