MBABANE GOVT HOSPITAL SUSPENDS DIALYSIS, SURGICAL SERVICES

MBABANE – It’s a crisis!
The snail’s pace in dealing with corruption, which led to the collapse of the public health sector; resulting in a massive shortage of medical supplies, has seen the Mbabane Government Hospital offering the last dialysis last night, while also suspending surgical services in its theatres, save for emergencies.Currently, over 300 patients receive dialysis treatment in the country. Mbabane Government Hospital assists around 190 patients; Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital has over 45 patients, while the Hlatikhulu Government Hospital assists over 40.  Secretary General of the Eswatini Renal Association Vusumuzi Nhlabatsi, last night sent a distress call, through this publication, to members of his organisation, that the Mbabane Government Hospital had communicated that from today; there will be no dialysis at the public health facility.

Dialysis

Nhlabatsi said the last dialysis was offered at 10pm yesterday and, thereafter, all the medical supplies needed would be on stock-out. Nhlabatsi said: “I have been instructed by the matron (of the hospital)  to communicate that from tomorrow (today) there will be no dialysis.” He said leading to the announcement that dialysis will not be offered from today, there had been a period, where the medical supplies were not available at the hospital. Thereafter, he said the supplies were sourced and lasted for only two weeks. The medical supplies, which were said to be on stock-out are; artificial kidney, salts, pharmaceuticals and various catheters.

According to Yale Medicine, to undergo dialysis, a patient must first have a surgical procedure to create an access point for the machine. This is typically done in the arm or the wrist, most often by connecting an artery and a vein. The procedure is performed by a vascular surgeon, who specialises in treating the circulatory (vascular) system. Nhlabatsi said they need the dialysis, as it assists them to excrete various waste  fluids in the body. In the absence of the services at the Mbabane Government Hospital, he said: “The only option we have at this point is death!” It takes at least three to four hours for one to undergo a dialysis. He said it was hard to predict the most number of days, a person suffering from kidney failure can live without undergoing dialysis. This, he said, is because there are various stages and the patients have a number of challenges. “Without assistance with dialysis, we shall be attending funerals daily as we also await our turn,” Nhlabatsi said.

The crisis in the renal department was reported by this publication on June 24, 2024, that renal patients had resorted to forming groups to make contributions to purchase a key drug, One-Alpha, which had been unavailable since last year in public health facilities. So serious is the situation of the drugs and medical supplies shortage in the country that some patients, who suffer from critical ailments, have not been spared.  Some of the renal patients said they had to deal with other conditions, including high blood pressure (BP) and sugar diabetes.
This, they said, required them to at least have E800 to spend on medication on a monthly basis, following that they no longer got medication in public hospitals.

Patients

Last month, this publication reported that dialysis patients at Hlatikhulu Government Hospital were forced to wait for long hours for treatment after four of the 10 machines broke down.
Witnesses mentioned that at times, frustrated patients were even turned away due to the ongoing problem at the health facility. It was communicated to this publication that there is a total of 10 dialysis machines at the facility. However, currently four machines are said to be out of order, leaving only six machines in working condition. Aside from the challenges at the Renal Department, the management of the Mbabane Government Hospital, which is the country’s referral hospital, communicated the suspension of the surgical services.

In a communiqué to healthcare practitioners at the facility, it was said: “Dear colleagues. As the hospital management, in consultation with the Anaethesia Department, we have noted the shortage of critical medical supplies and pharmaceuticals necessary for surgical operations.  “We have been working with our pharmacy, deputy director clinical services, deputy director pharmaceuticals and the anaethesia department to resolve this matter. We are unfortunately unsuccessful at the moment. “This is why the hospital management has taken the decision to suspend elective cases untill the situation is resolved. A communication has been made to the principal secretary through the director of Health Services about this unfortunate decision. Any inconvenience caused is regretted. Apologies for informing you late, we have been working the whole day to avoid this decision,” reads the communique.

The suspension of the surgical services comes at a time when the nearest health facility – RFM – is undergoing renovations. Leading to the renovations, RFM Hospital was one of three public health facilities, which scaled down operations, as they were facing acute shortage of medical drugs and pharmaceutical supplies. The other two major public health facilities, which had scaled down services in September 2023 in their medical operations were Mbabane Government Hospital and Mankayane Government Hospital.This was caused by the lack of the medical essentials in the theatres, following the supply chain challenges between the hospital and the Central Medical Stores (CMS).

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