OPD SERVICES SUSPENDED, TLC TURNS BACK OVER 200 PATIENTS DAILY

MANZINI – The Luke Commission turns back over 200 patients seeking medical treatment on a daily basis.
After suspending outpatient department (OPD) services for 17 days between December 22, 2023 and January 7, 2024, TLC will open the department one day per week from January 8, 2024.

This was revealed by Lindani Sifundza, the Director of Public Relations at TLC, yesterday. TLC is a healthcare facility which attends to about 300 000 emaSwati annually. Since October 2023, it started downscaling its operations due to financial challenges. Despite serving as a referral hospital and carrying a large share of the national healthcare framework, Sifundza said TLC received less than two per cent of the resources allocated to the Ministry of Health.  

Deteriorated

He said the long-standing mismatch between demand and resources had taken a great toll on them and the financial situation of the facility had deteriorated. He highlighted that since October 2023, when they started to downscale operations, they continued to attend to 15 000 patients per month.

However, in December 2023, the facility’s downscaling of operations went even further, as it announced the closure of OPD services at the Miracle Campus (Sidvokodvo) and the Matsapha Clinic, between December 22, 2023 and January 7, 2024.

It continued with funded programmes, whereby they invited eligible patients via text messages or phone calls. Some of the funded programmes were specialty care and snakebites. Also, the facility continued with admissions for intensive care unit (ICU), paediatric, labour services, while aggressively working to secure funds to support these programmes.

On top of that, it also reduced staff members significantly, through layoffs and contract non-renewals. In fact, on December 13, 2023, about 160 staff members were affected, as they were placed on layoffs, while some had their contracts not renewed. It also cut-off the much-loved tradition of providing Christmas food hampers for staff members.

Suspended

However, the director of public relations said, since they were turning back over 200 patents on a daily basis as the OPD services were suspended, they had thought of means to prioritise their clients. As a result, he said from January 8, 2024, they would open the OPD, at the Miracle Campus, but limit its operations to a day per week. “We will also limit Matsapha Clinic outpatient department operations to a day per week, starting from January 9, 2024,” the director of public relations said.

He also highlighted that recently, they restructured and reposted as many staff as possible, to funded or enterprise units, including digital chain solutions and renewable energy projects, among others. He said they prayed that their demonstrated commitment to efficiency, technology, digital solutions, accountability, transparency and integrity would one day be scaled nationally and that they would be able to continue to serve the nation indirectly, through the focus areas outlined above.

Again, he said their heart continued to be with the nation in the deepest of ways. He added that while their first love was to deliver compassionate, comprehensive healthcare via direct service delivery, they would never stop dreaming for the nation. He added that many of these dreams were in various stages of development. Therefore, they were looking forward to sharing the dreams with the nation in due course.

To Their Majesties, he said they would forever be grateful to them for gracing the facility with their presence at the Miracle Campus in 2023 (during official opening). He said after 18 years of serving the nation, Their Majesties visit was definitely the highlight of their year and a day they would never forget.  “You (Their Majesties) have blessed us and we believe their blessing, along with those from the Lord, will carry us through this difficult season,” the director of public relations said.

Challenges

Since the institution started facing financial challenges, it had been asking government to intervene and recently, the Minister of Health, Mduduzi Matsebula, toured the Miracle Campus at Sidvokodvo and he committed that, as an administration of the country, they would support TLC.

It is worth highlighting that the downscaling of services at TLC saw the nearest referral healthcare facility; Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital’s bed occupancy increasing by at least 10 per cent so far. This was revealed by Eswatini Nazarene Health Institution (ENHI) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mazwi Mavuso, when the Minister of Health, Matsebula, visited the RFM Hospital recently.

The CEO said in the past three months, their bed occupancy at RFM Hospital was at 42 per cent. However, he said currently it was at 52 per cent, which showed an increase of 10 per cent. TLC’s hotline is available 24/7 every day on 7613 8814.

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