adminRobin Muchetu Senior Reporter
Elton Ndebvu (10), a pupil at Chegato Primary School in Mberengwa, will probably fail to make it for his first term in Grade Five, as he could still be nursing wounds from a fractured elbow he suffered on 1 December 2014. Elton was transferred from a hospital in Zvishavane on 10 December 2014 where he initially sought assistance and after failing to get much assistance was referred to United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH). While at UBH, he was told to wait for the new year so that he would be operated on. What stalled the operation all along is the unavailability of metal rods that will correct the fracture on his elbow.
His story is just a tip of the iceberg. Over 50 patients remain untreated at the hospital due to a myriad of challenges.
“I had opted to look for the rods elsewhere but I was told they are only available at the hospital so I had to wait patiently and I was unable to take him home and wait for the hospital’s call as they said if he was away he would be left out when the rods are availed,” said a frustrated Ms Bridget Zhou, Elton’s mother.
Elton broke his arm after being pushed into a pit by a friend while playing at his rural home in Mberengwa. According to his mother, Elton has been in pain for too long and is surviving on pain killers while waiting for the operation.
More than 50 patients are awaiting orthopedic treatment from the only available surgeon assigned to the Government run institution.
Dr Collin Msasanure is the only orthopedic surgeon at UBH, making it a mammoth task to attend to all patients and do other duties effectively.
Orthopedics is the study of the musculoskeletal system. This complex system includes bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and nerves.
A senior doctor at the institution who preferred anonymity said some of the patients have spent about four months admitted as they are awaiting surgery.
“We have patients who have been here for about four months as they await surgery and it is very hard for Dr Msasanure to carry out these operations with limited resources,” he said.
He said as a result of these challenges, UBH is only concentrating on the very severe cases.
The acting chief executive officer for the hospital, Mr Norman Sobhuza, said although the hospital is facing a number of challenges, it is coping.
“We do have challenges that we are facing and this is due to the economic situation that we are in. The hospital may be facing challenges but we are ok,” he said.
The acting CEO said they were particularly faced with a challenge of supplies during the festive season due to closure of companies.
He was, however, evasive on the actual materials and machinery that are in short supply.
A number of patients who are admitted to the institution are up in arms with the hospital over the postponement of scheduled dates for operations for orthopedic patients.
A city man who refused to be named and has his relative admitted to the hospital said she has been there since 1 November 2014.
“We have a relative who had been admitted since 1 November 2014 and she is awaiting an operation. They promised that it will be done early this year. She has leg fractures and we are just patiently waiting for the operation to take place,” he said.
The woman was involved in a road traffic accident in Collen Bawn and was transferred from Gwanda Provincial Hospital.
Sources at the hospital revealed these challenges following an expose by this publication last week of a woman who was admitted to the institution following a road traffic accident. The woman, Ms Naume Mushiringi, and her relatives felt the hospital was not taking her condition seriously as she had several bookings for an operation cancelled.
She was subsequently moved to a hospital in the Midlands where she is currently receiving treatment. UBH is also accused of blocking efforts by her relatives to fly her to South Africa for specialised treatment.
The fate of many of these patients like Elton is still unknown as the hospital administrators are not certain of when they will get adequate supplies.
Most of the patients are people that were referred from rural areas in the Matabeleland region and the Midlands province.
According to officials from UBH, the hospital does not have enough machinery for conducting operations and is even failing to procure basics such as bandages and cotton wool swabs.
The hospital is now saving the supplies that come with patients that will have brought excess material.
Asked on the delay of patients going to theatre, the acting CEO said there was a need to understand that hospital staff plan for an operation before they go to theatre and can make some decisions that will influence the period in which one undergoes it.
“Doctors actually plan before they go to theatre and if they feel the patient is not stable enough they can postpone the procedure to when they feel the patient is ok,” he said.
He said when conditions are not favourable they make the decision to cancel.
Before being transferred to the Midlands, Ms Mushiringi was scheduled to have an operation at UBH but it was cancelled at the last minute.
“This other time she was starved prior to the operation and the next day she realised she was not being taken to theatre and that is when she asked one nurse and was told that the doctor did not have a gown to wear during the operation,” said Mrs Rebecca Dzvene, Ms Mushiringi’s sister.
The institution is being dogged by such challenges, which has had a negative impact on the patients and their well-being.
One official at the hospital said in some cases patients tend to mistrust these decisions made by doctors and consequently become impatient.
According to the official, Ms Mushiringi who had stayed at the hospital for four weeks, was not a “serious” patient as she was stable and that four weeks was not a long period of time.
“She was not a very serious case as we considered her to be stable despite the fractures on her legs. A month is not a long period of time as there are many people who have stayed longer than her in the hospital,” he said.
Mr Sobhuza said they had made strategic plans at the institution for 2015 in a bid to improve service conditions.
“We have already done some strategic work and we want to make use of the limited resources that have been availed to us so that we improve the situation of our hospital,” Mr Sobhuza said.
The situation is similar at Mpilo Central Hospital where patients are being made to buy their own supplies.
“My father was admitted to the hospital and we were told to bring our own latex gloves, syringes, drips and even some basic drugs like pain killers. We were told that the nurses would not attend to him without gloves,” said Mr Maron Moyana.
Government has been struggling to capacitate central hospitals in the country over the years owing to financial constraints. A few fortunate ones who have medical aid, opt to be treated at private hospitals where conditions are better.
The economic challenges that Zimbabwe faced a couple of years ago also saw the mass exodus of qualified specialists in the medical field to greener pastures and that gap is yet to be filled.
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