04 Jul 2023

Kgatleng District Council meeting has learnt that the Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital mortuary has a carrying capacity of six corpses.

Addressing a full council meeting recently, Kgatleng District Health Management Team (DHMT) head, Dr Boipelo Lecoge said of the six, only three trays were currently functional, hence refuting allegations that the hospital mortuary was completely dysfunctional.

“The responsibility to store the bodies lies with the bereaved families. Storing of corpses at the hospital mortuary is a courtesy extended them and the hospital can only keep the body for maximum of three days to allow the families to sort themselves out,” she said.

On other issues, Dr Lecoge told councillors that though there had been some improvement, drug unavailability remained a problem in the Kgatleng District.

She said as at May, drug availability in the district stood at 46 per cent and 38 per cent at the Central Medical Stores (CMS).

“While there are efforts to procure at private suppliers, there are some limitations and different purchasing methods are used, hence sometimes there are adequate supplies at private pharmaceuticals,” she explained.

Dr Lecoge also acknowledged shortage of doctors in the district, adding however that where there were none, there were plans to have doctors visit different clinics weekly.

She added that plans were in place to address shortage of staff, noting that Bokaa clinic had since the beginning of June, had a resident doctor who also covered Rasesa and Morwa.

Dr Lecoge regretted that patients were sometimes sent from pillar to post in search for medication. 

“Ideally staff members should search where medication is available,” she said.

On dental health, she said Deborah Retief Hospital was only able deal with 15 to 20 patients per day, adding however that with adequate equipment, more patients would be assisted.

“We never return patients, we can either diagnose them and give them pain killers and schedule to attend them,” she added.

Dr Lecoge further acknowledged  that most clinics needed maintenance. ENDs