admin
as one of the country’s referral medical centres battles with lack of resources.
Some of the problems that have affected service delivery at the hospital include shortage of surgeons and water supplies.
Although the hospital is exempted from the Bulawayo City Council’s 72-hour water-shedding exercise, it is seriously affected when surrounding suburbs do not have water, as the pressure at the hospital would be low.
A snap survey of the hospital’s wards this week revealed that a majority of the patients were admitted to the hospital more than two months ago and are waiting to be operated on.
Patients who spoke to Chronicle on condition of anonymity expressed concern over the situation, saying it was worsening their health conditions and creating confusion at the short-staffed hospital.
Some patients are from as far as Mutare, Beitbridge, Masvingo and Nkayi.
A woman from Masvingo who was involved in an accident in August and was transferred to the hospital said her theatre bookings had been cancelled more than five times for different reasons that include unavailability of water and surgical material.
“Under normal circumstances, a patient admitted to a hospital has an idea when he or she would be discharged looking at the treatment progress. It is unfortunate that most patients here do not know when they would go home because the process here is unpredictable,” said the patient.
“I was involved in an accident and broke my leg. I was then transferred to this hospital. The doctor recommended that I undergo an operation and I was booked for the following Monday. For the past five weeks I have been going to the theatre every Monday only to find out that the operation is impossible because there is either no water or surgical material.”
The patient said the erratic water supplies had created an influx of patients at the hospital.
“On Monday I went to the theatre, only to be told after the doctor had administered an anaesthetic on me that there was no water and the belt that was supposed to be used to dress my leg.
“This is what has been happening to several patients who are admitted here,” she said.
Another patient who could not walk to the toilet said the nurses were refusing to give them bedpans to relieve themselves, saying they would do so when water supplies have been restored.
“There was a time when the hospital went for four days without water and the toilets at the hospital were an eyesore. A strong stench emanating from the toilets had become the order of the day as patients were using the toilets without water.
“For some of us who cannot walk, when there is no water we are simply told by the nurses to hold on to our bowels until supplies have been restored. Just imagine the situation if a patient soils the blankets,” said the patient.
She said most of the patients now feared for their lives, as the hospital had become unhygienic. The patient said they now feared contracting diseases.
Contacted for comment, the UBH chief executive officer, Mrs Nonhlanhla Ndlovu acknowledged the challenges facing the hospital, saying it had a huge number of patients to cater for.
“The major challenges that we have include inadequate water supplies that are caused by water-shedding in the neighbouring areas, the shortage of surgeons and an influx of patients, especially accident victims.
“The patients are too many, especially accident victims, but we cannot turn them away. The number of patients that are operated on actually depends on the availability of surgeons and the resources needed for the operations,” she said.
Mrs Ndlovu said the institution was in the process of purchasing water pumps that would boost the pressure of water coming out of their taps.
“We are exempted from the water shedding programme but when the suburbs around us do not have water, the pressure is low and some of our high buildings, including the theatre, will have no running water.
“We are in the process of purchasing water pumps that will boost the pressure of the water and increase the amount of water coming out of the taps. This will certainly assist us overcome the water problem for the benefit of the patients,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
Bulawayo Moyor Councillor Thaba Moyo expressed ignorance of the problem and said the council’s engineers would look into the matter.
“This is an important issue which concerns people’s lives. It is unfortunate that I was not aware of the problem. All we need is the hospital’s authorities to write us a letter explaining their dilemma concerning the supply of water then we will sit down and map the way forward with our engineers,” said Clr Moyo.
The Member of Parliament for Bulawayo East, Ms Thabitha Khumalo, expressed concern over the situation at UBH, which is under her constituency and said there was urgent need for the corporate world to assist the institution.
Online Reporter