Though government on Tuesday said hospitals must stay open regardless, Mbabane Government Hospital staff is now allegedly advising patients to “self-admit” at home due to lack of essential drugs.
The shocking advice has reportedly been given to several patients this week, marking a dangerous escalation in the ongoing health crisis.
Sources within the hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the overwhelmed healthcare workers resorted to informal triage systems, prioritising only the most critical cases.
Other patients whose conditions warranted admissions into the facility were reportedly encouraged to go back home and monitor their conditions. The workers said they were not coping with the lack of not only medical drugs but other supplies as well.
The healthcare workers claimed that shelves in the dispensary were as good as empty because the most essential drugs were out of stock.
Some family members with sick patients who were interviewed by this publication expressed concern and despair at the state of affairs at the facility.
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They recalled that since last week, they had been sceptical of going to the Mbabane Government Hospital after learning of news that the healthcare workers were protesting over lack of drugs.
They also said they were concerned when they further heard that the healthcare workers were not attending to patients on Monday and Tuesday.
They said although they understood the frustrations of the workers that forced them not to attend to patients, they were also concerned about the lives that could be lost in the process.
Another patient said she could have gone to another facility, but she had been told that amid the drugs shortage crisis, the Mbabane Government Hospital was most likely to have the medication she needed.
Such patients are evidence to the hospital’s claim that of late, the institution has been servicing over 60 000 patients per month, which they said was too strenuous for them.
During one of their petition deliveries to Cabinet in May, the workers were adamant that there was a serious shortage of human resource at the health facility.
At the time, the hospital Unit Committee Chairperson Musa Shongwe said the persistent situation was taking a toll on the current staff that was stretched beyond capacity.
He stated that patients travelled from across the country to seek medical attention at the hospital, placing further strain on already limited resources.
When asked about the latest development in the crisis faced by the hospital, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Khanya Mabuza said the management reported to him that they, including healthcare workers, had agreed on prioritising emergencies.
The principal secretary also stated that this decision was arrived at after careful consideration of the drug shortage crisis. However, Mabuza said he would meet the management today for more insight on the proposal.
Eswatini Observer Press Reader
