MINISTER DELIVERS RENAL SUPPLIES TO RFM

MANZINI – The Ministry of Health has taken swift action to alleviate the ongoing renal challenges at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital.

Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula personally delivered the much-needed supplies to the hospital CEO, Mazwi Mavuso, who received them on behalf of the institution. On Saturday, the ministry delivered three months’ worth of supplies to the hospital, in response to the renal supplies challenge. The hospital has since confirmed that the issue was related to a shortage of supplies, rather than any deficiencies with the equipment itself. The Ministry of Health’s swift intervention came just in time to alleviate the ongoing renal supply issues at RFM Hospital, which had previously forced the hospital to refer some patients to the Mbabane and Hlatikhulu Government hospitals. In response to a questionnaire from this publication, RFM Hospital CEO Mavuso disclosed that the hospital was treating 48 renal patients, with the capacity to provide dialysis to 24 patients per day.  With eight dialysis machines in operation, he revealed that the hospital was able to serve eight patients simultaneously in each round of treatment, which lasted approximately for four hours.

Disclosed

Therefore, Mavuso disclosed that with three rounds each day, the hospital was providing dialysis to 24 patients daily. “First is to correct the narrative that RFM is facing challenges with equipment. This is not correct. The challenge has always been supplies, not equipment,” he said. He further appreciated government for the dialysis service in the country. Mavuso stated that it was a costly procedure, which typically cost about E40 000 monthly, per patient. He pointed out that patients in the public sector did not pay for this service. The CEO added that this service had prolonged life for many patients. He elaborated that the quality of life of patients with renal failure had been kept at reasonably good levels. Although ordering and receiving supplies had to do with supply chain issues, Mavuso said they were not in a position to know the exact nature of the challenges at central level.

Nonetheless, he pointed out that what they had seen was the dedication of the minister and the team to work on the issue and eventually have it resolved. “We now have received our order on the April 27, 2024, and the minister was here to see to it that indeed we have received the much-needed supplies for dialysis. We are now confident that we will continue to provide the service to our patients, because the supplies we have received will last us a period of more than three months, giving us enough time to plan for the next delivery,” he said. He was requested to provide an update on any interventions that the ministry was planning to implement to address the aforementioned challenges, as well as timeliness for implementation. “From time to time we engage with the ministry on this subject and many others. There has been both short-term and long-term interventions and strategies,” the CEO explained.

Arrangement

He said through the ministry, there had been an arrangement that in the meantime, the RFM would continue receiving supplies from the Mbabane Government Hospital Unit until their order has been delivered. Mavuso mentioned that the ministry has been working hard to ensure delivery of the ordered supplies by RFM, adding that through the sound leadership of the minister, they had RFM supplies delivered on Saturday. Mavuso said they would receive other supplies today. He was further asked that since it was a known fact that RFM Hospital was facing financial challenges, what was the administration doing to revive the financial status of the hospital in order to be once again regarded the better health facility in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Supplies

“It is true that ENHI is still in a financial ICU, but it must be said that the non-availability of renal supplies has nothing to do with that. As previously reported, the institution has implemented several cost-containment measures to bring down total operational costs,” he alluded.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: