DOCTORS’ SHORTAGE: PATIENT ASSAULTS ORDERLY

NHLANGANO – A shortage of doctors sparked a violent attack on a hospital orderly, by a patient, at a health facility on Monday.

Chaos erupted at Nhlangano Health Centre when the irate patient assaulted the staff member, in full view of others, shortly after 2pm.
It is understood that patients at the facility had been complaining about the slow pace at which the queue was moving when a hospital orderly tried to explain the cause of the delay. Interviewed witnesses said there was tension at the facility until the orderly tried to explain that the hospital was facing a staff shortage. The orderly reportedly said there were only two doctors at the facility, and pleaded for the patients’ understanding.

But there was this one male patient who felt that the staff members were not paying enough attention to them. He took the hospital orderly to task. Further pleas from the orderly could not help to calm down the fuming patient, according to bystanders.

Confrontation

It was at the height of the verbal confrontation that the patient started to assault the hospital staff member. Eyewitnesses said they saw the patient slapping the male orderly repeatedly across the face, before he further threw a few punches.

Those who watched the drama said the attack was so violent that a female doctor, who was available at the facility at the time, immediately stopped attending to patients after she heard the commotion. A source said the medical practitioner feared that she could also be attacked as well.
Some patients who watched the spectacle unfold also ran for cover while others stood there confused.

This also affected staff members, including nurses, who also left their offices in fear of the patient. The angry patient held the staff member hostage for a while until senior personnel at the facility called another male orderly and police officers, who came in shortly thereafter. 
“The police officers later took both the orderly and the violent patient away. I understand they went to the police station where the aggressor apologised to the victim before he was released after a strong tongue-lashing,” narrated an eyewitness.

The orderly was contacted by this publication and he confirmed the incident. However, he referred further enquiries to his superiors at the health facility. A staffer, who was contacted by this publication, also acknowledged receiving a report about the violent episode that was played out at the hospital. The senior staffer condemned the attack on the orderly and appealed for patience from people who visit the facility for healthcare.

Resolved

The matter was further confirmed by Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, when contacted yesterday. Vilakati explained that the issue was resolved amicably by the parties concerned following the intervention of the police.
“No one was charged in relation to the incident after the patient asked for forgiveness from the hospital staff member,” she said.

The shortage of doctors has adversely affected health facilities across the country. Information gathered was that the number of doctors in government hospitals and health centres was less than the figure of the expected capacity of these facilities, with patients getting frustrated by long queues or even getting limited healthcare as a result.

At the Nhlangano Health Centre for instance, it was gathered that the facility had previously operated with six doctors but now it is running with only three. This is precisely because three expatriate doctors left the country towards the end of the past year, leaving only three remaining to service the facility.
It is believed their contracts were not renewed by government.

Further compounding the issue is that one of the three medical practitioners who are currently working at the facility is on leave, which effectively means there are only two doctors currently present.

“We had three doctors from Cuba who left the country towards the end of last year. No other doctor has been brought to the hospital to replace the three who left, so you can imagine what is happening now, especially with the queues,” said a hospital staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another nurse at the Hlatikhulu Government Hospital told this publication that: “It is not just the unavailability of doctors, but we also have a serious shortage of nurses and nursing assistants. The shortage of equipment and medication is also another big challenge which compromises healthcare and the quality of services in our facilities.”

This was further corroborated by President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Bheki Mamba, who said several posts in health facilities were lying vacant because government was either failing to renew contracts of specialist expatriate medical practitioners or not replacing staff. He explained that these were staffers who had either resigned or left the healthcare service because of various factors.

Replacements

“You will remember that government is not hiring at the moment. There are posts which are left vacant because of different reasons but government is not making the necessary replacements because of the current hiring freeze policy. This ends up affecting a lot of departments in the health service,” he said.
Mamba hinted that, as a union, they have brought into light all these issues but nothing has been happening and posts were not being filled.

When queried about the shortage of doctors and other staff in health facilities, Minister of Health Lizzy Nkosi said she was engaged in a meeting.
She referred questions to the Principal Secretary (PS), Dr Simon Zwane, who could not be reached for comment. Several attempts were made to contact the PS but calls were not answered. A text message was also sent to both the minister and the PS but there had been no response at the time of going to print.

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