RFM KIDNEY PATIENTS SUFFERING AT MBA GOVT HOSPITAL

MBABANE – Imagine being a visually impaired  renal patient residing at Matsetsa in the Lubombo Region, but still be compelled to attend dialysis at the Mbabane Government for two weeks.

This is what two Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital kidney patients had to endure for 14 days due to the dysfunctional dialysis machines at the Manzini hospital. Both patients are visually impaired and require assistance of their respective spouses to attend dialysis three times a week at RFM. This means these two visually impaired kidney patients, not only paid transport costs for themselves but their spouses as well.

Concern

The concern is that the decision to refer such patients to the Mbabane Government Hospital, for two weeks, was financially, emotionally and physically draining for them. A trip from Matsetsa to Manzini costs around E60 for one person and this excludes the E30 transport fee to Mbabane. For full costs, therefore, the patient must prepare a budget of not less than E300 per day inclusive of the spouse and food costs.    

“We have two fellow patients who are both blind. One stays at Matsetsa, while the other is at Hhelehhele. They attend dialysis at RFM three times a week and are transported by their wives. They shoulder those transport costs for three days a week and you can imagine how much they spent travelling to Mbabane for dialysis for two weeks,” one of the patients said.

The patient also revealed challenges they had to go through when referred to the Mbabane hospital, most of which centred around being made to wait for hours before getting assistance. “At the Mbabane Government Hospital, there are over 200 renal patients and they get first preference when it comes to treatment before we are allowed. While it is a good thing that the Mbabane Renal Unit operates 24 hours unlike RFM or Hlatikhulu, the challenge is that those from RFM are sometimes attended to at 2am or even turned back at times, because the line in Mbabane is very long,” she lamented.

Referred

The patient also alleged that some RFM patients went to Hlatikhulu Government Hospital for the dialysis, but were only allowed treatment for a day, before being referred to Mbabane. “The challenge with RFM and Hlatikhulu hospitals is that renal units there operate from 8am to 5pm, hence outside patients are not accommodated. So, we all have to go to Mbabane. For the two weeks I have been going to Mbabane, I have spent over E500 on transport and food while waiting in the long queues,” she said.

The patient also stressed on the fact that without dialysis, they are as good as dead, hence they took a decision to approach the Health Minister Mduduzi Matsebula to formally register their concerns about the RFM situation.
It has also been gathered that some of the RFM patients could not afford the travelling costs to Mbabane, hence missed out on the dialysis for close to 14 days.

“For us kidney patients, we cannot even urinate because the urine does not pass through, this is what makes the dialysis very important that this is the only way the water can be drawn out of our bodies using the lines. It, therefore, becomes a very painful experience when you miss dialysis for just two days because the urge to urinate is always there because we drink water like everybody else,” she said.    

Asked to comment on the transport costs shouldered by kidney patients when attending the dialysis along with the long lines they must endure, Eswatini National Kidney Foundation CEO Nkosinathi Dlamini said this was one of the reasons they would be approaching the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office to propose for the inclusion of kidney patients in the disability grants.

Dialysis

“People need to understand that attending the dialysis for kidney patients is not a matter of choice, but a must, because their lives depend on it. So, attending to the treatment three times a week comes with huge financial costs for the patients and we hope that government will consider assisting them with grants. Kidney disease is very serious and not different from other known diseases like HIV,” he pointed out.

Medical officers at both Hlatikhulu Government and RFM hospitals were contacted to comment on this issue but they referred such inquiries to the Health Ministry superiors. Questions were sent to  the Ministry of Health Communications Officer Nsindiso Tsabedze but at the time of compiling this report, he had not responded. The same questions were also shared with the ministry’s Principal Secretary, (PS) Khanya Mabuza but there was no response as well.

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