Power outages cripple hospital theatres
Nine out of a total of 47 theatres in all government hospitals around the country are non-functional.
These theatres are at Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) where one out of five theatres is not functional and is being placed under maintenance.
Letsholathebe II Memorial in Maun has its three out of four theatres not functional and are undergoing refurbishment which is envisaged to complete before end of March 2023.
The only theatre in Sefhare is out of order with its Compressor damaged by the power surge and works are ongoing and envisaged to complete by end of March 2023.
Sekgoma Memorial in Serowe has one out of three theatres not working due to theatre leakages and works will be completed before end of March 2023.
The same applies to the one in Rakops where the only theatre is not functioning due to theatre leakage non-functional chillers and air cooling system issues, as well as structural defects. Contractor is on-site and expected to complete by end of March 2023.
The state-of-the-art and newly-built Joseph Kavindama hospital in Shakawe‘s two out of three theatres are not in use due to power surge which damaged mechanical and other equipment. However, medical equipment is being procured and the theatres are expected to be completed by June 2023.
Assistant Minister of Health Setlhomo Lelatisitswe told parliament that Letsholathebe II Memorial Hospital in Maun has two theatres being the main and minor theatres. He said the main theatre has three theatre rooms while the minor theatre has one room.
“The three theatre rooms in the main theatre were closed on the 3rd of June 2022 for refurbishment. The company is currently on site, and the works were expected to be completed by the end of February 2023, however, the project is currently at 96 percent and is envisaged to be complete by the 24th March 2023,' he said, adding that the delay in completion of the theatre was due to the interruptions in the delivery of the materials needed to complete the floors.
Lelatisitswe said there is a likelihood of deaths happening in hospital settings due to various reasons, including not adequately providing care due to various reasons, but that the Ministry always does its best to save lives by mitigating such occurrence.
Patients dying during referrals is always a possibility. Letsholathebe experienced one death among patients transferred to outsourced operations, during the time when the theatres were closed. He said the death reported was for an expectant woman as per records, “the first death and the last death were on the 26th February 2023”.
He said Letsholathebe continues to receive referrals from other neighbouring facilities within and outside Ngami DHMT. As such, all non-emergency operations are done at Gantsi Primary Hospital, Gweta Primary Hospital and Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital with a total of 40, 32 and 187 operations done respectively and were all successful. Translates to 29 cases per month. Ngami DHMT usually sends the Gynaecologist and support staff to beef up the staff in the other hospitals during outsourcing of these services.
However, patients requiring emergency operations are performed at the minor theatre within Letsholathebe Hospital with a total of 507 surgeries done from June 2022 to date, of these cases 432 were obstetric/gynaecological, 25 surgical, six Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and 44 orthopaedic cases, translating to about 60 cases per month.
Lelatisitswe said outsourced operations include expectant mothers with a total of 259 operations done outside Letsholathebe Hospital from June 2022 to date.