2 GOVT RENAL UNIT DOCTORS RESIGN

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.

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