Government exposes scam at Zvishavane hospital

ZVISHAVANE District Hospital in the Midlands province has come under fire over alleged mismanagement of funds and drug supplies, which are blamed for frustrating efficient service delivery.

Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Cde Sleiman Kwidini, who recently visited the health institution said the allegations of mismanagement of funds and resources were a threat to basic service delivery.

“I was at Zvishavane District Hospital assessing the hospital. Remember I am on a familiarisation tour of health care facilities and I learnt about the alleged mismanagement of funds and resources after meeting the hospital management team and stakeholders,” he said in a recent interview following his visit.

The Deputy Minister said he was alerted of how patients were referred to some pharmacies for medication that was available at the institution by members of staff who will be working in cahoots with the said pharmacies.

“We want to find out whether what we are hearing as the ministry is correct or not. We came here and found out that they have an X-ray machine, which has not been working for the past eight years.

“We learnt that there is mismanagement of resources and funds at the hospital. We discussed and mapped a way forward that will make Zvishavane District Hospital a place where health care services are top-notch,” said the Deputy Minister.

He reiterated the Government’s commitment to beefing up infrastructure development and improving service delivery as top priorities under the Second Republic.

“We want to make sure that the hospital is back to its glory days. We understand that their X-ray machine has not been functional for the past eight years. So, it’s our duty as the Government to make sure that all things are functional. We will allocate them machines that will ease their duties,” said Cde Kwidini.

Regarding the availability of drugs such as those for chronic diseases, he said the Government health centres were being equipped and the process will continue to ensure that patients have access to medications.

“The Second Republic under President Mnangagwa is really trying to avail medications in health institutions across the country. We can safely say drug availability is at over 60 percent and we are working to make sure that we reach 100 percent,” said the Deputy Minister.

“But we have a challenge of some health workers who are abusing their positions, a development that has resulted in patients failing to access drugs.

“Patients are told that drugs are not there when they are there. We are working on containing that evil.”

Two weeks ago, suspected drug procurement irregularities were exposed at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) when Deputy Minister Kwidini visited the facility and red-flagged the hospital’s faulty drug procurement procedures for contributing to the ongoing critical shortage of medication at the facility.