Times Of Swaziland: 2 GOVT RENAL UNIT DOCTORS RESIGN

2 GOVT RENAL UNIT DOCTORS RESIGN
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BY SITHEMBILE HLATSHWAYO on 06/12/2021 08:55:00


MBABANE – Over 200 patients on dialysis at the Mbabane Government Hospital may
not get the best medical service following the resignation of two specialist
doctors from the Renal Unit.
Information gathered on why the doctors resigned was that they had found greener
pastures. There is currently one specialist remaining at the hospital’s Renal
Unit, who has to attend to all the patients. The two doctors resigned one after
the other. The resignation of the doctors was confirmed by the Director of
Health Services, Dr Vusi Magagula. According to Dr Magagula, they had already
received the letters of resignation from the two doctors. He stated that one of
the doctors was employed by Fresenius Medical Care, a private company which does
the dialysis in partnership with government under the public private partnership
(PPP).
Resignation
Dr Magagula said the doctor who was employed by the private company was first to
hand over the resignation and was followed by the other who was employed by
government. “Although I cannot have the specific dates of the resignations, I
can confirm that we have received the letters,” Dr Magagula said in an
interview. The director said there were other specialists running the dialysis
departments at Hlatikhulu Government Hospital and the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial
(RFM) Hospital.
When reached for comment on the resignation of the doctors, some patients who
were found on the dialysing queue stated that they had no clue about it.
The patients blamed government for neglecting the health system, especially the
dialysis section yet there were many patients in need of the service. This, they
said, was due to unhealthy diets which led to high blood pressure and sugar
diabetes, alcohol and the antiretroviral  (ARVs) treatment. “If you take ARVs,
the strain of the drugs damages the kidneys over time and it is something we
have never been told when they put us on the drugs,” one patient said.
Furthermore, they raised concern that if there was only one doctor remaining in
the department to assist them, they would not cope due to the high number of
patients. “Most of us stay very far and have to lodge at the hospital for days
until we complete the dialysis session,” they said. They stated that they
slept along the corridors because they did not have space in the hospital wards.
Patients
The majority of the patients stated they shared the sleeping mattresses, which
also exposed them to COVID-19. They said they dialysed three times a week and
they had to cater for their own transport fees and food among other things,
which was also very expensive. The patients stated that despite getting the
major service of dialysing, there were services that the patients no longer
received, including counselling and advice on the diet they were suppose to eat
as the queues were too long to handle for the doctors.
“Now that there is only one doctor remaining, the service will be compromised
even worse,” the patients said. According to the patients, there were some who
relied on the doctor 100 per cent and were clueless on the diet they were
supposed to take, which then compromised their health. “Dialysis alone cannot
be helpful, if the diet is poor,” one patient said. The patients reiterated
that the current situation where they would have to rely on one doctor would
really hit hard on them as patients.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi is yet to receive a full briefing on
the resignation of the doctors at the Mbabane Government Hospital’s Renal
Unit. Nkosi said she would receive the briefing and overview of the human
resource situation during a senior management meeting this week. On the issue of
the resigned doctors, she stated that Fresenius Medical Care, which was working,
in partnership with government normally recruited doctors and nurses.