Police arrest farmer for breaking trespassers legs
By Oliver Chisenga
Fri 30 Aug. 2013, 14:01 CAT
POLICE have arrested and charged the Chikumbi farmer who allegedly drove over the legs of two subsistence farmers as punishment for trespassing on her farm.
The farmer identified as Vyness Magoye, who is remanded at Kabangwe police post, has been charged with acts intended to cause grievous harm while her light truck, Mitsubishi Canter, has been impounded as evidence.
Last Saturday, James Gumbo, 29, and Clever Mutangama, 31, of Chikumbi sustained broken bones in their lower limbs after Magoye allegedly drove over them for collecting tomato stakes in her farmland without permission.
Magoye is alleged to have ordered her farm workers to tie Gumbo and Mutangama, after which she drove over their legs as punishment even after they asked for leniency.
A check at Kabangwe police post found Gumbo and Mutangama recording their statements in the company of their relatives.
And a source at the police post revealed that Magoye, who had moved from Chikumbi to her Makeni farm, had been jointly charged with her farm worker who helped her tie the two victims.
According to the source, Magoye, who on Wednesday eluded police at her Chikumbi farm, turned up at Kabangwe police post in the company of her lawyer, a Mr Ndindi.
"The officer in-charge has been calling this lady since yesterday (Wednesday) but she kept saying she was stuck in traffic. We were told that she has moved to her other house in Makeni," said the source.
But Magoye, who denied having driven over the two farmers' legs, explained that she was fed up with people stealing things from her farm.
"Nalema (I am tired). Do you know how many people I have caught stealing on my farm? Last time they tied my cattle herder and stole my cows; I am tired of these people," said Magoye.
Labels: CLEVER MUTANGAMA, CRIME, JAMES GUMBO, UTH
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Chikumbi farmer drives over trespassers' legs
By Oliver Chisenga and Tom Chiponge
Wed 28 Aug. 2013, 14:01 CAT
COMMENT - How is this not assault? I wonder how many years in prison she is going to get for it. - MrK
TWO subsistence farmers of Chikumbi area near Kabangwe are nursing injuries in the University Teaching Hospital after a farm owner of the same area allegedly drove over their legs as punishment for trespassing on her farm.
Narrating the ordeal from their hospital beds, James Gumbo, 29, and Clever Mutangama, 31, said the farm owner, whose name they do not know, found them collecting tomato stakes at her farmland and ordered her employees to tie them, after which she drove over their legs as punishment even after they asked for leniency.
"We went to find stakes for our tomatoes at this lady's farm but after we were almost done, the owner of the farm found us and asked her farm workers to tie our hands using wires. After they beat us, we asked for leniency but she ordered that we sit down before driving over our feet. She left us in the field after we were driven over and we could not walk. We called for some people to alert our relatives, who came and picked us up. We were assisted to go to Kabangwe police post and there, the officers referred us to Matero Police Station," narrated Gumbo.
Matangama, a father of three, lamented that being a farmer, he would have difficulties sustaining his family as he would be confined.
"Siniziba nganizasebenza bwanji ndaba mendo yatyoka. Banibweza kumbuyo apa, nchinto yanga yonse yafa (I don't know how I will be working now that my legs are broken; this is a drawback, it is the end of my work)," lamented Mutangama.
And UTH public relations manager Mwenya Mulenga said the two patients who were received on Saturday had broken bones in their lower limbs.
He, however, said the duo was stable and would be discharged and return for review at a date to be advised.
Labels: CLEVER MUTANGAMA, CRIME, JAMES GUMBO, UTH
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UTH's handling of oxygen problem disappoints Manda
By Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 11 Feb. 2013, 13:50 CAT
UTH urologist Dr Francis Manda has expressed disappointment over the manner in which management at the hospital is handling the problem of oxygen at the country's biggest referral hospital.
In an interview, Dr Manda said he was appalled by the insistence by the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) management that the supply of oxygen to the hospital's theatres was under control, yet big and serious operations had remained suspended because of the limited supply of the gas.
"What I don't like, and that is my policy in life, is for people not to tell the truth. The oxygen issue at UTH, when it started, Pauline Mbangweta (UTH spokesperson) came out and said everything was normal, when she knew very well that things were not," he said.
"Phase three theatre had no gas cylinders until this came to light when the media picked it up. We were not operating before that time almost three weeks. They (management) panicked, they brought in small cylinders which could not even last one hour," Dr Manda explained. "Make a tour of UTH theatres…there are different types of operations which we do.
There are emergency operations which are catered for by the oxygen from the central supply, which comes from the plant. Then we have cylinders which we use when the central supply shuts off like now. That is what she (Mbangweta) should have said. This is oxygen directly from the plant going into theatres, going to Intensive Care Unit (ICU)."
Dr Manda said management did not put in place proper measures to cover for the time of the works at the central oxygen plant.
"Now like phase three theatre, the biggest theatre in UTH, where we do big operations, cancer operations, abdominal surgery, thoracic surgery in the chest cavity when you open up (the chest) and things like that… but these operations you sit down and plan them properly. When the day of operation comes, you cannot operate when there is not enough oxygen because they take long," he said.
"For me for example, if I am to remove the bladder because it has cancer, it takes me four to six hours just operating on one case. Now if they fit those theatres with small cylinders which can hardly last one hour, just imagine what can happen to that patient! Not until now, they had fitted in small cylinders to the machines which are in phase three theatres which you can use to operate small operations which last 30, 20 minutes. What about the big ones?"
Dr Manda said he and other surgeons were not able to do operations that were due because of the oxygen shortage.
"We had to send them home and up to now they are home. We told them we would call them back when things have normalised," he said.
Dr Manda said big cylinders had not been taken to big theatres because of pressure.
"They started fitting them on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I couldn't do my big cases because there was no oxygen, let anyone challenge me...
They have just finished fitting those cylinders this week, now we will see this week, whether I personally will operate or not because we have to test those cylinders because those machines, which we have in theatre, the life-supporting machines, have no proper knobs to fit to those cylinders and these are new machines which came from Japan. They don't have their accessories to fit to our local cylinders. So even the anaesthetics have found a way of improvising," he explained.
Dr Manda said politics of yesteryear should not play a role in a life of a human being.
"We are dealing with life here. Now if we are doing politics with life, that is where I am saying I am not going to play politics with life and by politics here I mean to please the authorities. Authorities cannot go to the public and tell them that what you are hearing are just rumours and forget.
I have a quarrel with such type of attitude of telling the authorities that everything is okay. The very authorities do not come to see what is on the ground. They take what comes from management because they trust that is the truth and yet it is not. I challenge you to take a tour with Mbangweta," said Dr Manda.
Labels: FRANCIS MANDA, UTH
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Let's reflect on Chitimukulu's service, says Nevers
By Allan Mulenga
Sun 08 Apr. 2012, 13:28 CAT
MMD presidential aspirant Pastor Nevers Mumba says late paramount chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba speaking people of Northern Province served the country exemplarily and needs to be mourned with respect.
Pastor Mumba who was on a campaign trail of Northern Province and halted his campaign following the death of the paramount chief urged Zambians to pray for the Bemba Royal Establishment during this trying time. He also urged Zambians to reflect on the service of late paramount chief Chitimukulu.
The chief died in University Teaching Hospital on Tuesday and the body was transported to Northern Province.
Meanwhile, Pastor Mumba urged the MMD in Northern Province to remain united as the party repositions itself to get back into government in 2016.
He said fighting and squabbling in the party would not help but would instead destroy it.
He told party officials in Mpulungu to put aside their personal differences and work towards re-organising the MMD party as they brace for a tough fight with the Patriotic Front.
Pastor Mumba said unity was what made MMD thrive in the past elections.
He has also advised party officials with inclinations to the PF to freely leave MMD rather than remain and cause confusion in the party.
He said that MMD could not afford to have individuals with two heads that could not decide where they want to go and where they want to be.
Pastor Mumba also said the opposition MMD needs a leader who would devote all his time to party programmes. He said the party needed someone not limited by parliamentary programmes.
He explained that successive presidents such as Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Frederick Chiluba and Levy Mwanawasa who were not in parliament managed well.
Pastor Mumba further said that President Michael Sata successfully organised the PF for 10 years because of not being in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Mpulungi District chairperson Edward Chele said an encounter with the PF would not be an easy one hence the party required a fearless leader.
He said Pastor Mumba's visit to Mpulungu had given them hope of succeeding again.
Labels: CHIEF CHITIMUKULU, NEVERS MUMBA, NORTHERN PROVINCE, UTH
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Kitwe doctor blames medical personnel for Robiana's case
By Fridah Nkonde
Sat 07 Apr. 2012, 13:28 CAT
KITWE district medical officer Dr Chikafuna Banda says the case of Livingstone's Robiana Muteka was a result of negligence on the part of the medical personnel. And Dr Banda says the referral system in Zambia needs improving.
Commenting on health minister Dr Joseph Kasonde's statement in Livingstone this week that Robiana's case was a wake-up call for Ministry of Health staff, Dr Banda, in an interbiew, said doctors in Livingstone, especially those that knew about Robiana's case, could have done something before the tumour grew.
"It was going to be better if the tumour was dealt with before it grew that big. The young man had to carry that mass for years. He could not sit or sleep for a long time because of his condition. Honestly, it is evident that Robiana used to go to the hospital, but was never attended to, hence his family giving up on his case. This simply shows that the referral system in our country is not good enough," he said.
Dr Banda said 14 kilogrammes of a tumour "was just too much".
"One doctor does not hold an opinion for the whole Ministry of Health. It must have been only one doctor who thought the case was complicated and kept quiet about it. When you are a doctor and you feel you cannot work on a patient, maybe because you are not that qualified for a specific case, the best you can do is to call others to help," he said.
Dr Banda said doctors had an obligation to inform higher and more competent authority to attend to cases which proved too complicated for them.
He said if UTH failed to work on a patient, it was also their responsibility to evacuate patients abroad for specialist treatment.
"It is like the way we do it in Kitwe; we have patients with brain problems. So we identify those that have serious cases and we take them to UTH. We can't just keep them here because we know that there are experts that can work on them at UTH," he said.
Dr Kasonde told The Post in Livingstone that UTH had had historical records of Robiana's plight and that he should have been returning to the institution for reviews.
And last weekend, former permanent secretary in the MMD government Peter Mumba observed that Robiana's case was a result of bad attitudes in public health facilities.
"It is quite embarrassing on the part of our health providers that it had to take the entire President to step in the matter that should not have been allowed to grow and reach the proportion it did…What this successful operation shows is that the problem in the country is not capacity or skill or even the money. As a country, we have got medical doctors with unparalleled levels of skill and expertise as they demonstrated in that operation but the problem is attitude," said Mumba.
"These problems are not just discovered, they are there. What happened to the hospitals where he Robiana was going? Did they see the need to refer him Robiana to UTH? Why did they allow the problem to escalate to the levels it reached? They need to explain…So, what is happening to other cases, especially in the lower rungs of society, those that don't have the money - the poor? These operations don't even need colossal sums of money. So, we need to change the attitudes of our health providers."
And Dr Banda said it was sad that 16-year-old Eunice Katukula of Chingola succumbed to breast cancer after being evacuated to UTH.
He said it was very unfortunate that Eunice died at 16 years when the breast cancer would have been treated if medication had been administered early enough.
"The young girl was not supposed to be kept at home. She was supposed to be in hospital undergoing treatment. The breast cancer she had reached a very advanced stage," said Dr Banda.
"…The other problem was that Eunice's family gave up and she also gave up because there was no improvement whatsoever."
Labels: HEALTHCARE, UTH
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UTH sets aside K2.6bn for kidney treatment
By Agness Changala
Fri 15 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE shortage of consumables at the University Teaching Hospital’s Renal Unit was due to a budget deficit the hospital experienced, according to Dr Aggrey Mweemba. And Dr Mweemba who is in charge of the Renal Unit said about K2.6 billion had been budgeted for to treat patients of kidney failure this year.
Patients undergoing the dialysis process at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) have been complaining of lack of consumables.
Dr Mweemba said the problem came about because patients could not afford to pay K200,000 per session to undergo the process and consequently (the unit) ran out of consumables.
He, however, assured that the problem had been sorted out, saying all the consumables were in stock.
Dr Mweemba said the cost to undergo the dialysis process was still expensive and the government was aware about it.
“For this reason, the cost has been reduced further to K100,000 per session, which brings the total amount to about K1.2 million per month compared to the time patients were paying K200,000 per session K2.4 million per month,” he said.
He said measures to reduce the cost further from the current K100,000 per session to K50, 000 had been instituted.
“We just have to see how it works because we have to source for resources to reduce the cost further,” Dr Mweemba said.
“Before the cost was reduced to K100, 000, patients had to undergo one session of haemo blood dialysis cleaning at a cost of K400,000. Each patient requires three sessions in a week. Those on permanent dialysis chronic renal failure paid K200,000 while the government paid K200,000. Those suffering from acute renal failure where recovery is expected access the temporary tube and haemo dialysis for free.”
He said out of the K2.6 billion budget, K2 billon would be used to treat 36 chronic renal failure patients while the rest would be spent on the 135 acute renal failure patients.
Dr Mweemba said the K2.6 billion budget for the unit was almost equivalent to what UTH spends on treating patients.
He said the Ministry of Health would provide K1.5 billion towards the budget while UTH would contribute K500 million and the remaining K600 million would come from user fees.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, UTH
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Nurses boo, anger Health minister
Tuesday, December 28, 2010, 7:37
By Dimboni Mafweto
Health Minister Kapembwa Simbao was yesterday booed when he tried to convince health workers that government had signed agreements with commercial banks to offer them up to K100 million loans. This happened when Mr. Simbao made a speech during the launch of the distribution exercise of the new nurses’ uniforms at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH).
Explaining what government was doing to improve the living standards of the health workers, Mr. Simbao said his ministry was concerned with the fact that most of them did not have decent accommodation.
“We have signed agreements with banks to allow you to access loans, the maximum they will give you is K100 million….” he said.
But the health workers booed him and told him that they were not school pupils whom he could easily lie to and get away with it. The nurses further challenged him to mention one nurse who had accessed a K100 million loan.
They reminded the Health minister that no bank in Zambia would give an employee who earns less than K5 million that kind of loan and stressed that with their K2 million pay, they would only access loans of up to K20 million.
Mr. Simbao tried to counter the booing by shouting at the crowd through the microphone telling nurses to keep quiet and listen to his speech, but the health workers become unruly while some indistinctly called him liar.
Struggling to prove to the nurses that his message was genuine, the minister then turned to UTH senior superintendent Lackson Kasonka to assure them that they would access the loans.
“These loans are there at the bank. Don’t just say Wooo!! Wooo!! When you haven’t been there, go and get the loans and build houses…Hey (Dr. Kasonka) come and tell them, they think I am telling lies, come and tell them yourself they will listen to you since you work with them here,” said a visibly agitated Mr. Simbao.
This did not help as Dr. Kasonka who seemed not prepared to agree with the minister at that stage got no cooperation for silence from the health workers who instead demanded to know when they would get salary increments.
The Minister took back to the podium and explained that there was no need to boo him as salary increments were not determined by his office.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, NURSES, UTH
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Kidney patients bemoan cost of dialysis treatment
By Agness Changala
Sat 30 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
PATIENTS suffering from kidney failure have appealed to President Rupiah Banda to help reduce the cost of undergoing the dialysis process at Lusaka’s University Teaching Hospital (UTH).
Kenny Lundu, a Lusaka resident currently undergoing the dialysis process at the UTH, said he bought a fistula in Zimbabwe at a cost of US$7,000 a year ago. Lundu said his employers gave him a loan and they were still deducting from his salary. He said he usually attended three sessions in a week at the hospital at a cost of K600,000.
“Then about K300,000 for other medications which comes to K1 million a week and in a month K4 million,” he explained.
Lundu said it was clear that accessing the service was not easy and most people were dying because they could not afford.
He said if the government could reduce the price further or make the service free, more people could afford the treatment.
Lundu said as a civil servant, his salary was too low and the only option to save his life was to get a loan.
Another patient who declined to be named bemoaned the cost of accessing the service.
She said as much as they were happy that the machines to save their lives had increased in number, the cost was too high.
To start the dialysis process, patients suffering from acute renal failure curable require a temporary tube to be connected to the dialysis machine which costs K600,000, while those suffering from chronic renal failure require a permanent tube which is pegged at K3 million. The other alternative to a permanent tube is a fistula, which is a connection between the vein and an artery, making it easier to put a needle for a connection to the dialysis machine. The operation to insert the fistula was usually done in South Africa and Zimbabwe at a cost of K35 million. However, this operation will now be performed in the country at a lower cost.
Thereafter, the patient has to undergo one session of haemo blood dialysis cleaning at a cost of K400,000. Each patient requires three sessions in a week. Those on permanent dialysis chronic renal failure pay K200,000 while the government pays K200,000. Those suffering from acute renal failure where recovery is expected access the temporary tube and haemo dialysis for free.
During the commissioning of the Renal Dialysis Unit at UTH on Thursday, President Rupiah Banda said it was common knowledge that the number of patients with kidney-related complications was increasing in Zambia.
He said on average, 10 patients attended dialysis sessions per day, culminating in an average of 190 sessions per month.
President Banda said the cost of refurbishment of the ward with the partner Tokushikai Medical Group had totalled K3.5 billion.
However, he said the cost did not include the training of three nurses, one doctor and one technician, which was facilitated by the Tokushikai Medical
Group in conjunction with Nitro Medical, the manufacturers of the machines.
President Banda expressed gratitude to the company for bringing to Zambia such quality equipment and for training staff to operate the machines.
And Japanese company executive director Katsuyuki Noso said the equipment would help Zambia provide quality health services to the people.
Noso said the government would also save on the costs to send patients abroad.
The newly-launched Renal Dialysis Unit comprises 10 new machines, bringing the total number of the machines at UTH to 13.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, KENNY LUNDU, UTH
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Rupiah gimmicks
By The Post
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
It is said that lies have no legs. For lies to stand, the liar is forced to tell more lies. Unfortunately, even those new lies also have no legs which leaves the liar sucked into a perpetual cycle of lies. When we exposed the misery that was afflicting our people at the University Teaching Hospital, Rupiah Banda and his minions were quick to try and downplay the extent of the problem.
We carried pictures that showed people sleeping on the floor in corridors and other makeshift arrangements at what is supposed to be our country’s premier medical facility. In the characteristic kneejerk reaction of a government that is used to telling its people lies and half-truths, there was immediate activity that cleared the corridors of patients.
Some ill-thought explanations were given to justify our people’s lying in corridors. We remember that it was suggested that the only reason why patients were sleeping on the floor was that the nurses at the University Teaching Hospital were not doing their work properly. Even assuming that this nonsense was true, where was the hospital management? Indeed where is the government when our people are forced to sleep on the floor in our country’s biggest hospital because of poor management? Obviously, the problem is more fundamental than what Rupiah and his minions wanted us to believe.
The problem with Rupiah’s approach to national issues is that it is all about fluff and no substance. Rupiah thinks it is all about a few nice words here and there and all is sorted out. This is what explains why there is so much commitment to public relations rather than dealing with the problems of the public. Rupiah thinks he can sort out all our problems by merely making this or that promise. They want to conjure an image that everything is okay when nothing is. This is what happens when people accept leadership for the sake of pleasure and other personal benefits without understanding that their calling is to serve our people.
In an attempt to show that there were no problems in the medical sector and that, in fact, efforts were being made to address the medical crisis that has engulfed our nation, Rupiah went to open the Chawama Hospital. They wanted to give an impression that all was well; that there was even a theatre that was going to be opened at Chawama. But today, their lies, half-truths and public relations gimmicks are being exposed for what they are – gimmicks! Rupiah and his friends moved equipment from the University Teaching Hospital to Chawama for window-dressing. They wanted our people to believe that Chawama had equipment when it didn’t.
Today, we are being told that the moving of that equipment to Chawama has paralysed operations at the University Teaching Hospital, where they have cannibalised the theatres. There is now no equipment at University Teaching Hospital all because Rupiah’s minions wanted to cover up the real problems in the medical sector by pretending that they were building hospitals which were adequately equipped when the truth was different. To them, it was not enough to be honest with our people and say 'we intend to buy theatre equipment'. This simple explanation could have satisfied our people, but they chose to lie and engage in shameful acts of deception that in other countries would have disgraced them out of power.
If leaders can cheat their people, what else will they not do? This is why even corruption is rampant in our country today; we have a government that thrives on lies and half-truths. In such an environment, other vices such as corruption thrive as well. How can an entire government machinery set up a commissioning of a hospital theatre with equipment that they know to be coming from another hospital where it’s supposed to be returned? The purpose of this activity is clearly to deceive the people into believing that their government is working when the opposite is true.
Rupiah needs to address himself to reality and dealing with the challenges that our people face. Gimmicks and public relations stunts will not take him anywhere. But this seems to be Rupiah’s character. He seems fickle and incapable of concentrating on the real duties of his office. Rupiah seems happiest when he is up and about doing nothing. Obviously, he thinks that being president is nothing but a ceremonial role for a party-spirited person. This is why he cannot sit still in State House to ponder over the various challenges that our nation is facing. Sometimes we are left to wonder whether Rupiah is actually running this country or somebody else is.
If he is, what time does he run this country? What does he actually do to run this country? We have no doubt that he is very keenly interested in procurement contracts and similar government decisions. But it is also clear that he has no interest in whether or not the country is running well. This is why he has no difficulty travelling out of the country in the midst of a crippling medical strike. He did this during the last doctors’ strike. But he also did it last year during the nurses’ strike. If Rupiah thought that he was responsible for ensuring that the country was running well and our people were receiving the services that that they need, he would not be so careless with the way he travels without any regard to his duties at home. Rupiah must be one of the world’s most travelled presidents. It would be interesting to know the longest time he has ever spent in his own bed. Rupiah’s attitude is such that he does not really care about whether our people receive medical care or not. Of course, he is eager to boast about how many hospitals and even schools they are building. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the detail.
How much are they paying for these hospitals and schools they are building? Who are the contractors? How were they chosen? Yes, we’ve heard of figures of close to US $7 million being spent on building basic schools. What are they building, universities? We have no doubt that a close check on how much is being spent on the building of hospitals would also produce an equally startling revelation of a day-light robbery that is going on. These projects are not being built to serve our people; they are being built to provide avenues for stealing public funds. They are also being made to hoodwink our people into believing that development is being delivered. Why else would people go and get equipment from one hospital and take it to another just to pretend that there is equipment when in fact there is none? This is not the way honest governments that are truly dedicated to delivering services to their people behave.
Services are meant to be delivered. Pretending to be delivering services when in fact not will only anger our people more in the long run. Our people may be poor but they know a good service when they see one. It will not be long before Rupiah realises that trying to treat our people as though they do not think and do not understand issues will not take him anywhere. Cheap public relations gimmicks may make him feel good but he cannot fool our people. Rupiah will pay the price for the lies and half-truths of his government.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, RUPIAH BANDA, UTH
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Transfer of equipment paralyses UTH theatre
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:01 CAT
SOME senior staff at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) have complained that the government’s move to strip the institution of its theatre equipment and move it to Chawama first level hospital has paralysed operations.
But health minister Kapembwa Simbao on Tuesday disclosed that former UTH managing director Dr Peter Mwaba had long donated the equipment to the ministry because it was excess.
In an interview, the source said there was an initial understanding to have the equipment moved to Chawama as a one-day exercise and then brought back to the UTH the following day.
On September 15, 2010, President Rupiah Banda commissioned the first level Chawama Hospital Theatre, whose equipment was moved from UTH.
The source said UTH management and the Ministry of Health, however, rescinded the decision, claiming that the government would purchase new equipment for the institution.
“The saddest part is that there was a shift from the original arrangement where the equipment was supposed to be used just for the launch of that upgraded hospital in Chawama. In short, it was just meant to window-dress the function. But the government has refused to bring back that equipment, and now we are literally stranded; we can’t perform theatre operations at UTH,” the source complained.
“All the theatre tables, trays and other essential equipment were shifted to Chawama. And as I speak, all this equipment is just lying idle in Chawama because there are no doctors to use them. It would have been better if we had a rotational programme where on a daily basis we would have some doctors operate from Chawama. But there is the issue of money; the government will obviously say they have no money for that. And you can’t just move doctors without paying them.”
Another source complained that the change in decision had shocked all staff. The source wondered why the Ministry of Health had not replaced the equipment as earlier pledged.
“We are now being told that the Ministry of Health will buy us new theatre equipment. And I think we saw a story in your paper a few weeks back where the Ministry of Health was giving that assurance. But we are still surprised that this equipment has not been bought. The main theatre rooms are now white elephants; there is literally no equipment there. So, how can you operate a big health institution like UTH without theatre services?” questioned the source.
But Simbao insisted that the equipment was more than what UTH needed.
"Look, that equipment is excess equipment. There's nothing like taking it back to UTH. We are refurbishing theatre 3 and we can't put old equipment there. In fact, that equipment was offered by Mwaba long before he became PS permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health. He had offered that equipment to the permanent secretary then," Simbao said.
When reminded that doctors were still complaining that there was no equipment in the theatre rooms, Simbao dismissed the complaint as a lie.
"No, they're lying. We have the equipment. UTH had about two sets of excess equipment which were donated to the ministry, one for Kanyama and one for Chawama. The other day, some doctor was saying I was just politicking; no, that's unfair," said Simbao.
And UTH public relations manager Pauline Mbangweta said the move was part of the process to decongest UTH.
"You have heard what the government are saying, that we are upgrading. So it is not true that we are not carrying out operations at UTH; we have the equipment," said Mbangweta. "The whole purpose is to decongest UTH. In fact, we are putting up a programme where every Monday, we will assign a surgeon to go to Chawama and Kanyama where we have upgraded clinics. We don't want everyone to come to UTH for those services.”
On Monday last week, resident doctors in all public health institutions countrywide resolved to go on strike, citing poor conditions of service and lack of proper equipment and an unpredictable timetable for paying doctors’ on-call allowances.
The resident doctors, however, suspended their strike two days ago, citing sympathy for patients.
And commissioning the level one Chawama Hospital Theatre last month, President Banda said the government would build more hospitals in order to provide quality health care to the people. He said the exercise would also help decongest UTH.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, UTH
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UTH suspends 16 cashiers involved in theft syndicate
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Sat 02 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
Chiwoyu Sinyangwe THE University Teaching Hospital (UTH) has suspended 16 cashiers in an alleged syndicate of theft of money which is believed to have been going on since January this year, sources have disclosed. And UTH managing director Dr Luckson Kasonka has confirmed the suspension of the officials following suspicion of alleged irregular transactions.
According to sources, the thefts are believed to have been going on since January and hinged mostly on cashiers under-remitting to the institution the monies they collected from patients and clients. The sources explained that the 16 cashiers had been suspended for the last two weeks.
“For example, they would say K900,000 which is charged on a patient and needs the scan services but only remit maybe K50,000 and also record wrong details as to what services that patient was provided for,” the sources explained.
“But the main computer used to capture the correct data and that is how these 16 guys were identified and suspended…because the information they used to submit was different from what the computer was recording. It is suspension to keep them away so that they don’t continue tempering with the evidence. Even the police do that.”
Dr Kasonka said the suspension was done to pave way for investigations.
He explained that management at the country’s biggest referral hospital was prompted to suspend the cashiers following complaints from some patients and the discovery of inconsistencies between the data from cashiers and that captured by the main computer which had the audit trail.
Dr Kaasonka, however, did not disclose the amount that is believed to have been exposed to the syndicate, saying the amount would only be known after the investigations had been completed.
“Here at UTH, they are some cashiers who are not honest,” Dr Kasonka said. “There are some cashiers who pick money, put in the pocket without issuing a receipt to client or patient. We have recently introduced a computerised system so that we can avert this forgery using the manual receipts writing.
But you know people are very ‘smart’; they have again gone around and hacked in the computer system. Even using the computer system, they are able to generate fake receipts and give fake receipts and give the clients and thereby depriving the institution of that money. So, we have put them on suspension and we want to get to the true details as to how much theft has been done.”
He said those found wanting would be handed over to the police for prosecution.
“It is normal procedure where you suspend someone where you suspect something wrong and you have to get the case against them, if at all they have stolen or not,” he said.
“Those who are found clean will come back to work. Those who will be found with evidence of theft, the necessary civil service procedures will apply. If someone has stolen money, the procedure is that you hand them over to the police. I don’t want to start kicking them and caning them, no.
I will hand them over to the police with evidence and then the police will take it from there because this is public money and that is what the police are there for.
We are trying to get to the root of complaints from the general public and at the same time, we don’t want to unfairly judge somebody when there is no evidence just because the public has said there is theft and we start firing and suspending.”
Dr Kasonka complained about the high levels of dishonesty in most public institutions, and that UTH was not the only institution that had some dishonest officials.
“You have heard of complaints from the members of the public that cashiers at UTH are corrupt,” said Dr Kasonka.
“They don’t issue receipts sometimes, (or) sometimes issue receipts which are undervalued. It is likely to have been going on for a long time. And this is usually everywhere in institutions. You see how we Zambians are not honest.
We are not honest people which is very sad. So, we want to establish for how long it has been going on and how much has been stolen. This is peoples’ money, government money and people will be punished for not being honest.”
Labels: CHIWOYU SINYANGWE, LUCKSON KASONKA, UTH
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UTH discharges patients as docs strikes enters day three
By Salim Dawood
Thu 30 Sep. 2010, 15:50 CAT
Patients at Chawama clinic waiting to be attended to. Picture by Eddie Mwanaleza
THE University Teaching Hospital (UTH) has started discharging admitted patients while giving convenient treatment only to the high cost paying patients as the resident doctor’s strike enters day three.
And Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata has described as myopic chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha’s statement that the doctors were being used by the opposition to discredit government’s achievement in the health sector.
Meanwhile Alliance for Democratic Development (ADD) president Charles Milupi has said the grievances of the striking resident doctors are genuine and must be treated seriously by those in government.
A check by Post Online at UTH this morning revealed patients at the low cost section had formed long winding queues and waited for long hours before seeing the senior doctors that are standing in for the striking resident doctors.
While patients waited to be attended to several wards had empty beds due to the discharging of patients.
There was also ceaseless traffic of wheelchairs and patients being wheeled to board taxis as they headed home.
Some discharged patients said they were told to go and continue medication from home because there was no point in remaining at a hospital were there no doctors
Others appealed to government to speedily attend to the concerns of the doctors so they could go back to work while some patients urged the resident doctors to come back to work and engage government about their plight while working.
“We have been here since 6:00 hours but we have not been attended to, am told the doctors are on strike but can’t they be working while negotiating for what they want because its us the innocent people that end suffering,” said one woman who had brought her husband who suffered a stroke.
A senior doctor who refused to be named told the Post Online that the hospital was only attending to ‘serious’ cases.
“We are only dealing with extremely serious cases, for those that are coming on appointments, they are just rescheduling their appointments,” he said.
Meanwhile University of Zambia (UNZA) medical students complained that their rotational schedules were disturbed as there were no patients to check on.
But UTH public relations officer Pauline Mbagweta said the strike action by the resident doctors had not affected operations at UTH.
“We are still operating normally because we have the senior doctors, the foreign doctors. They are all working. So they are able to cover areas where the doctors are striking,” she said.
“At this time we want to attend to critically ill patients, in essence that is what we are supposed to do anyway, that is what we are supposed to do in normal circumstances because this is referral hospital.”
Mbangweta said UTH admits was only discharging patients as it saw fit and not because of the strike action.
And PF leader Michael Sata described as myopic Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha’s statement that the doctors were being used by the opposition to discredit government’s achievement in the health sector.
Sata said the doctors were human beings and were more educated than Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha could ever be.
“Tell the disgraced Ronnie that doctors are human beings, more educated than Ronnie Shikapwasha will ever be. The doctors are very tolerant,” he charged.
Sata challenged Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha to be sincere and tell the nation how many doctors, nurses and paramedical personnel had left the country to seek greener pastures as a result of not being properly numerated.
He said the doctors that stayed in the country to offer their services should not be provoked by government.
“The way we look after Ronnie, its not even 20 per cent the way we look after our paramedics, so what is he saying? It’s not the first time he is saying it. Ronnie Shikapwasha and his minister friends are looked after well than our professionals,” Sata said.
He asked if Lt. Gen. knew how long it took to train a professional doctor and how many lives would been saved if the doctors had not gone on strike.
“Now they are running up and about, they go to Chawama and open a clinic and say we are decentralizing. You can’t decentralise UTH with buildings. You decentralise it with man power. Once you have human beings who can run these clinics then you are decentralising,” he said.
And on Minister of Health, Kapembwa Simbao’s statement that he did not know why the resident doctors were striking, Sata said the minister was a civil engineer who joined politics after learning that government does not care about professionals.
Sata wondered how negotiations for better conditions of service and improved salaries could take two years.
“Doctors and patients have been negotiating for two years, have you ever seen someone who can eat negotiations? Rupiah Banda brought the suggestions of salary increments for MPs and ministers yet doctors continue to suffer,” he said.
Sata observed that it did not take two years for President Banda and his Cabinet to increase their salaries but wondered why it should take more than two years to better the working conditions of doctors.
“The doctors don’t have night allowance, they don’t have hardship allowance, you don’t have anything to attract them as doctors,” he said.
Meanwhile ADD president Charles Milupi has said the grievances of the striking resident doctors are genuine and must be treated seriously.
Milupi said he was surprised that an educated person with many years of working experience like Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha belittle the concerns and suffering of the doctors.
He said doctors were highly trained and professional and that no politician had any influence on them.
Milupi said doctors going on strike was a serious problem and that the crisis would not be solved by Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha’s lies.
Resident doctor’s downed tools on Monday to press government for improved working conditions and an upward adjustment of salaries.
But Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha said the resident doctors were being used by the opposition to discredit government’s achievements in the health sector.
By Press time Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RADZ) was locked in a meeting with government officials to resolve the strike.
Labels: DOCTORS, STRIKE, UTH
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There is general frustration among health workers – striking doctors
By Ernest Chanda
Wed 29 Sep. 2010, 04:01 CAT
SOME doctors at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka have disclosed that there is a general frustration among health practitioners due to government's insensitivity to their demands.
In an interview yesterday after a check at UTH on the second day of the strike by doctors, the source said there was more to the situation than met the eye. The source said among the things frustrating doctors was a lack of proper equipment to use.
"In a way we are also protesting about the lack of proper equipment to use. Our demands do not just include things that benefit us as doctors, no. We do not want to be misunderstood by the nation that we do not have a heart. We want to serve the people wholeheartedly, but how can we do that without equipment? Can you imagine a situation where you want to work to the best of your ability but there's no equipment, how would you feel my brother?" the source asked.
"Just to refresh your memory, recently President Rupiah Banda commissioned a theatre at Chawama here in Lusaka. And for your information, the equipment they took there came from UTH. Of course we saw some justification in your paper by the health minister Kapembwa Simbao that there was enough equipment at UTH. That is far from the truth; the minister was just politicking. In fact, that move has left this institution ill-equipped."
The source complained that other necessary equipment at the hospital were in short supply.
"For example, for a long time we have been struggling with the lack of X-RAY material. This is an issue that has been on the table for a long time, but someone up there doesn't seem to bother. No matter how good you are as a blacksmith, can you make anything without proper tools? In fact, let me just tell you that if you see other health personnel joining in the strike don't be shocked. But we just hope that the government reasons," said the source.
And a check at UTH, Chawama and Chilenje clinics revealed long queues of patients waiting to be attended to.
On Monday, doctors in all public health institutions resolved to go on strike demanding better conditions of service.
Resident Doctors Association vice-president Dr Amon Ngongola confirmed at a briefing in Lusaka.
And Zambia Medical Association secretary general Dr Robert Zulu expressed concern that the strike jeopardised negotiations between his association and the government.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, UTH
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Health ministry moves UTH theatre equipment to Chawama hospital
By Chibaula Silwamba
Sun 19 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT
MINISTER of Health Kapembwa Simbao has said that excess theatre equipment at the University Teaching Hospital has been taken to Chawama and Kanyama hospitals.
Responding to concerns that the government had deprived UTH of theatre equipment and taken it to newly upgraded Chawama clinic now hospital to gain political mileage, Simbao said the government had refurbished UTH theatres and installed new equipment.
“If you go to UTH now, you are going to see that we have refurbished theatres and phase three theatres that are still being refurbished. So UTH has excess theatre equipment,” Simbao explained.
“So we have moved the theatre equipment, some of it old, some of it new, we are going to equip two hospitals - Chawama and Kanyama - using the excess equipment from UTH. It’s not that we have taken equipment from UTH; this is a plan which was there a long time ago.”
He said the government was now looking for money to buy theatre equipment for three other clinics which are due to be upgraded in Lusaka.
“We said, ‘we shall start with Chawama and Kanyama because we already have equipment’. Then in the time we are waiting to see how these hospitals will work, it will give us enough time to buy the equipment for the other three theatres,” explained Simbao. “So we haven’t taken away theatre equipment from UTH and leave it without equipment.”
Some members of the UTH management, who sought anonymity, disclosed that the theatre machine at Chawama hospital, which President Rupiah Banda commissioned on Wednesday, was picked from UTH.
“I think President Banda and the MMD government have gone too far. What they have done is unacceptable. We thought that they were going to buy new equipment for Chawama clinic but they have not, and what they have done is to get the theatre machine from UTH. What nonsense? They were supposed to buy the equipment for the clinic,” a senior official said.
“We are not happy about this. Where have they taken the money they were supposed to use to buy new equipment for Chawama hospital? This is what we want to know.”
Labels: CHAWAMA HOSPITAL, HEALTHCARE, KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, UTH
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Patients on floors moved into wards as Chituwo tours UTH
By Agness Changala and Moses Kuwema
Thu 09 Sep. 2010, 04:04 CAT
UNIVERSITY Teaching Hospital (UTH) management has moved out the patients that were sleeping on the floor in the hospital wards.
This move follows a story and pictures that were published last week on Sunday, which depicted the desperate situation at the hospital where patients were found lying on the floor.
An on-the-spot check at the Filter Clinic and D block ward where the pictures were taken revealed that the floors were free of patients and no mattresses was found in the corridors.
Acting health minister Dr Brian Chituwo toured the Filter Clinic and other wards at the hospital.
Dr Chituwo said his presence at the hospital was not planned, but he merely passed through on his way to the office to interact with the members of staff.
After the tour, Dr Chituwo said the government had finished upgrading clinics around Lusaka and that UTH would be decongested once these clinics are commissioned.
“We don’t believe as a health institution we have anything to hide, we are going to fix the problem with management at UTH and if it would be beyond them, there are linkages with the Ministry of Health headquarters that can be ventured into in addressing this problem,” said Dr Chituwo who is science and technology minister.
UTH acting managing director Dr Luckson Kasonka explained that the congestion was created by the nurses who transferred patients to the admission wards every two hours instead of 30 minutes.
Dr Kasonka said in future the hospital would work towards having two or more nurses tasked to take the patients to admission wards so that the Filter Clinic is left free.
However, Dr Kasonka said it was difficult to de-congest the place completely because a lot of patients needed to be attended to at once even with the shortage of manpower.
But sources talked to before Dr Chituwo’s visit said the story and pictures that were published in The Post prompted the minister to visit the institution.
They said the order that was seen yesterday at UTH was temporary and they commended The Post for bringing it out the problem.
“Although some people were in trouble after that story came out, it is good. You people are doing a commendable job but we know this won’t last because very soon, it will get back to congestion,” one of the sources said.
They explained that the sister-in- charge, who was on duty that day, was accused of wilfully allowing the media to take pictures of the congestion at the wards.
Meanwhile, Dr Chituwo said people should not judge the failure or success of mobile hospitals before they see the benefits.
He argued that the government’s decision was aimed at reaching people who could not access services in health centres located several kilometres away from their homes.
Dr Chituwo said the government should only be challenged after the initiative fails.
He further observed that the fertility rate in the country was very high especially in the rural areas.
Dr Chituwo said as a result of the high fertility rate, the dependency population had also increased.
“For instance in rural areas you will find a young girl with a pregnancy or a baby behind her back, this creates high dependency levels and when you have a high dependency population then you have a problem,” Dr Chituwo said.
He said in rural areas people did not only have one wife but three and each of the wives could have as many as five children.
Dr Chituwo said the high fertility rate added more agony in the provision of heath care in the country.
[Brian Chituwo couldn't find his behind with both hands if the population of Zambia was 6 million, instead of 12 million. Blaming population growth is the last refuge of the incompetent and the retarded. There is money in the mines, go and get it. And stop blaming outside factors, like demographics. - MrK]
Labels: BRIAN CHITUWO, HEALTHCARE, STUPIDITY, UTH
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Something needs to be done about UTH – our hospitals!
By The Post
Wed 08 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT
A society that does not care for its less fortunate members is doomed. The ability of a society to look after all its members is significantly dependent on the leadership it has.
We find ourselves in a vicious cycle as a nation. It is said that a society gets a leadership that it deserves. But it is also true that good leadership shapes society. The question is: what comes first?
There can be no doubt that today, we have a breed of leaders that is heartless and cold to the suffering of our people. Yes, as it is said: He who knows no weeping, when he hears weeping, he thinks it is a song. That is the kind of leadership that we have today. We have people who seem to have forgotten what suffering is. They have three square meals and more, so that they can no longer relate to the cries of our people. To them, the groans, the grunts and the agonising shrieks of pain that come from our people are a song that they have learnt to enjoy. Rupiah Banda and the conspicuous consumers that surround him have become accustomed to dismissing complaints about the suffering of our people as mere politics. This is the tragedy of leadership that we face today.
There are certain things in life that are common to all. It does not matter whether you are rich or poor, there are certain experiences that we must all have - hunger is one of them. At one point or the other, we feel hungry and have a need to eat in order to sustain our lives. No one should take another human being’s need for such basic sustenance as a matter of cheap politics that should be dismissed as if it was not important. But this is what Rupiah and his band of well-fed hangers-on are doing. They do not seem to have any sensitivity to the struggles of our people. To them, this is all fair game – politics at its best. What a shame!
Another matter that affects all of us regardless of our station in life is that at one point or another, we fall ill and require medical services. Again, this is a matter about which no one should be allowed to play cheap politics. Our people need medical services. It is clear that Rupiah does not really care whether or not our people get the kind of medical care that they need. We say this because this is a man who has vigorously fought the procurement of mobile hospitals from his Chinese friends at a colossal cost to the government, and yet a hospital which is two to three kilometres from his plush house on Independence Avenue is falling apart. The University Teaching Hospital (UTH) is in desperate need of refurbishment after many years of use. It is clear that this hospital is not able to serve our people according to its capacity because the facilities are simply rundown. This is supposed to be a premier medical facility in our country, if not in the region, and yet it is in a sorry state of dereliction.
When Rupiah was pleading for votes, these were the kinds of problems he was supposed to come and sort out when elected. But Rupiah is a careless and insensitive leader who would live happily three kilometres away from a hospital that has been reduced to a gloomy death lounge for those who cannot afford to procure private medical services or are lucky enough to be well connected and able to get government-funded medical tourism in some exclusive Cape Town hospital.
There is something wrong in a country when its rulers are comfortable jumping on a plane to go and seek medical services abroad for even the most innocuous ailments when the majority of their people cannot access basic medical care. It is wrong for Rupiah to go to Cape Town to have his knees massaged when people with more deserving medical complications cannot get even the most basic medical care in our hospitals.
And then there is the case of this thief, Frederick Chiluba, who continues to abuse our people by taking medical holidays in South Africa at their expense.
This is a man who stole from our people and, by that act, condemned many to premature graves for lack of medical facilities. Today, he is getting preferential treatment in spite of his thefts. What is worse is that Rupiah, who has anointed this thief as his political saviour, is now prepared to dare the donors who have been trying to help our people by funding some of the medical services, in defence of Chiluba. This is another tragedy of our leadership.
The stories that are coming out of the UTH should make any leader who is self-respecting and compassionate towards the people he claims to represent very sad. A real leader would feel a sense of humiliation with the state in which the UTH finds itself today. Instead of rushing to award contracts for the supply of mobile hospitals Rupiah should go and see what is happening in our hospitals. If a hospital that is just in front of his house can be so derelict, what hope is there for hospitals in more outlying areas. If Rupiah’s insistence on buying mobile hospitals had something to do with a genuine desire to provide medical services, he would have been moved by the sorry state of UTH and other hospitals. The nonsense about mobile hospitals is nothing but another ploy meant to line people’s pockets with commissions and all sorts of payments at the expense of real medical care. Assuming that this idea of mobile hospitals is workable, what will happen when the hospital has moved and somebody is sick?
These are some of the basic questions that Rupiah and his tenderpreneuring family and friends should have taken into account if they had any pity for our people. But the truth is they don’t feel anything for our people. What matters to them is that they have secured the tender and they will get the commissions.
They will now be out looking for other tenders to manipulate and make more commissions at the expense of our people. This is not the way things should be done. Even greed needs to have limits. Surely, trying to make fat commissions at the cost of our people dying needlessly should cause them to cringe and stop this nonsense. If they do not care about our people, at least let them care about their own relatives. Not all their relatives will be able to go to South Africa. Indeed, even those who could afford do find themselves in situations where evacuation is not possible. UTH may be the only place that stands between them and death. This could happen to any of us, to our children, grandchildren and other people that we care for. Surely, even for this kind of selfish reasoning, Rupiah should do something about the UTH. And while he is thinking about the UTH, let him ask his ministers of health and finance to tell him how much donor money goes into financing the provision of basic medical services to our people across the breadth and length of our country. This will help Rupiah to think very carefully the next time he feels like attacking the donors for no good reason.
Our hospitals need urgent attention. The katenga malilo type of hospitals that Rupiah wants to introduce may serve a cosmetic purpose but they will not be able to provide our people with the much needed access to good medical facilities. Something needs to be done about UTH – our hospitals!
Labels: HEALTHCARE, UTH
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Govt must abandon mobile hospitals – Longwe
By Agness Changala
Wed 08 Sep. 2010, 04:01 CAT
GOVERNMENT must abandon mobile hospitals and instead build more physical health infrastructure, gender activist Sara Longwe has advised.
Longwe said it was shameful that the government had spent so much money on the failed National Constitutional Conference (NCC) process and increased salaries of constitutional office holders and other officers at the expense of solving problems in the health sector.
She said the quality of health services in the country had deteriorated and the construction of the few hospitals was just a drop in the ocean because Lusaka alone needed about 10 big hospitals to cater to the existing population.
“They are just a drop in the ocean. They plan to procure mobile hospitals without proper roads,” Longwe said.
She said Zambia had no infrastructure, which could support the operation of mobile hospitals. She said people wanted hospitals which they could easily access.
Longwe said the evacuation of government officials and politicians to other countries for medical attention should be banned to enable them to seek treatment from the local hospitals.
She said such an approach could force them to improve the conditions in the hospital because currently they did not care about their people.
Longwe wondered why the state’s application to register the London High Court judgment which found former president Frederick Chiluba and others guilty of defrauding Zambians was dismissed because the money involved, if recovered, could have been ploughed into the health sector.
She said Zambia had no leadership and it was being run on autopilot.
“There’s no leadership, we are self-governing,” she said. “With this situation, the women are the ones who suffer most, nurses are not being paid and these issues were brought to their attention by Chansa Kabwela but they decided to ignore.”
Longwe said most nurses and other health workers’ altitude was demoralising and insulting because they were frustrated.
She urged the government to invest in human resource and hospitals if the future of the country was to be secured. Longwe advised women not to vote for the current government because it had failed to govern the nation.
And Citizens Forum executive secretary Simon Kabanda said the problem of congestion at UTH was a sign of a breakdown in governance.
Kabanda said the government had failed to govern the nation going by the manner in which the health sector was being managed.
Kabanda, who described the situation as nauseating, said what was happening at the hospital was the reality of the health sector in many parts of the country.
He appealed to the government to redeem itself from failure and exhibit concern for the suffering citizens.
“And government has an opportunity to redeem itself by ensuring that the next budget pays particular attention to the health sector before it completely collapses,” Kabanda said.
Kabanda said time and again Citizen’s Forum had drawn the attention of the government to the situation at UTH, and other health centres in the country but the government had been paying a deaf ear to their pleas.
In April this year, the NCC procured microphones at a cost of K1.8 billion at the time it was concluding its work.
Kabanda, who objected to their decision, argued that abuse of funds by the NCC could not be allowed, when the health sector was limping.
He said several clinics of Lusaka had no syrups for children and mothers stood outside clinics helplessly carrying their sick children, as they were told that there was no medicine for their babies.
He said most Zambians did not have means to procure drugs from private pharmacies, an indication that the situation was worse in other parts of the country, which were equally neglected.
Congestion at UTH has continued to be a problem, with patients in some wards lying on the floor.
An on-the-spot check at the Filter clinic and D block ward on Saturday revealed that patients were subjected to sleeping on the floor in the wards and the corridors in some cases.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, MOBILE HOSPITALS, SARA LONGWE, SIMON KABANDA, UTH
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Auditor General’s report reveals irregular payments at UTH, ZNBC
By Chibaula Silwamba
Fri 20 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE University Teaching Hospital (UTH) irregularly paid over K4.5 billion to officers that had no employment contracts with the hospital, the Auditor General’s report has revealed. And the Auditor General’s report has revealed that Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) incurred over K8 billion loss between 2006 and 2008.
According to the report of the Auditor General for 2008 on the accounts of parastatal bodies, during the period under review, the hospital paid K4,545,711,360 to 20 officers as salaries, gratuity, housing allowance and accumulated leave days.
“However, the payments were irregular in that 20 officers had no contracts of employment with the hospital,” it revealed. “As of December 2008, the hospital owed staff amounts totaling K26,069,982,749 in leave travel benefits, salaries and terminal benefits, gratuity, long service bonus and settling in allowances.”
It also revealed that contrary to financial regulation number 52(1), there were 10 payments totalling K17.4 million made during the period April to October 2008 that had no supporting documents such as receipts, invoices among others.
It further stated that contrary to the financial regulation number 96 (1), imprests totaling K5.5 million to five officers between February and December 2008 had not been retired as of March 2010.
“A scrutiny of the Hospital records revealed that during the period under review, UTH paid amounts totalling K3,876,545,325 as rentals for post graduate doctors, intern doctors and pharmacists on behalf of the Ministry of Health (MoH). However, as of March 2010, the Ministry had not refunded the money,” it stated.
“During the period from 2006 to 2008, the Hospital paid amounts totaling K454,400,000 as salary advances to 61 doctors and pharmacists employed by Ministry of Health (MoH). However, as of March 2010, the money had not been reimbursed to UTH by the MoH.”
The report revealed that according to the hospital’s financial statements, statutory contributions totalling K1,244,761,045 were not remitted.
The hospital owed Zambia State Insurance Corporation (ZSIC) K7,488,076, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) K 371,742,328,
NAPSA K777, 393,600 and Pensions Board K88, 137,041.
“As of December 2008, UTH was operating below its authorised establishment in that the strength of doctors and nurses stood at 314 and 696 respectively as opposed to the required numbers of 373 and 1,367 respectively. The staff levels were therefore insufficient to meet the demands placed on the Hospital,” the audit report stated.
On ZNBC, the Auditor General stated that a review of the income statement revealed that the Corporation incurred losses of K1,821,145,000 in 2006 and K5,071,969,000 in 2007 and there was a projected loss of K1,780,001,000 for 2008.
It stated that the losses were mainly due to administrative expenses, which increased from K30,640,272,000 in 2006 to K37,431,353,000 in 2008 representing an increase of 22 per cent.
“However, in arriving at the overall financial performance, the corporation had included Government grants of K4,598,727,000 in 2006, K4,490,741,000 in 2007 and K2,840,000,000 in 2008,” it stated.
“Whereas revenue increased by 45 per cent from K25,009,035,000 in 2006 to K36,178,264,000 in 2008, staff costs increased by 51% from K18,783,549,000 to K28,290,603,000 over the same period.”
In this regard, the report revealed that the staff costs to turnover ratio ranged between 75 per cent and 85 per cent over the three-year period.
“It is discernable from the above that the huge resources were being channelled towards staff costs. In his response dated 22nd June 2009, the Controlling Officer agreed with the observation that most of the financial resources are being spent on staff costs,” it stated.
“ZNBC’s current assets were insufficient to cover the current liabilities. The liquidity position continued to worsen from a deficit of K30,302,258,000 in 2006 to K46,482,591,000 in 2008. The increase in current liabilities is mainly attributed to the statutory contributions which stood at K29,465,189,000 in 2006, K37,561,107,000 in 2007 and K47,522,221,000 in 2008.
“In his response dated June 22, 2009, the controlling officer stated that the statutory debt burden at ZNBC over the years had grown as a result of a serious mismatch in terms of revenue and operational costs largely occasioned by the mandate of ZNBC to carry out more public broadcasting programmes than commercially driven ones.”
The report stated that the controlling officer added that while management had over the last three years managed to contain commercial debt and started dealing with statutory payments to NAPSA as they fell due, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Value Added Tax (VAT) due to ZRA had continued to be difficult to deal with and had been accumulating in huge quantums annually rising to over K47 billion as at March 31, 2008.
The report stated that the controlling officer further observed that over the years and realising the magnitude of the problem and the realities at ZNBC, the board tried to vary the financing model obtaining at ZNBC and challenged management to gear up the commercial arm of the corporation in an attempt to keep its operations afloat and that as a result, the financing model of ZNBC had progressively been tilting towards a more commercially driven operation.
The audit report revealed that contrary to the provisions of the Act which stipulates that board members should be appointed by the minister, the board at its meeting of May 8, 2006 resolved that the sitting director of finance should be a full board member to assist the board with information on the financial status of ZNBC.
“In this regard the finance director was irregularly paid board allowances in amounts totalling K31,700,000. In his response dated 22nd June 2009, the Controlling Officer stated that although the board was fully aware that section 9 (1) of the ZNBC Act refers to the appointment to sub committees, the board was of the firm view that finance in any institution is so critical that the presence of the director of finance at full board meetings was so vital hence the decision to incorporate the sitting director of finance on the board,” the report stated.
“The sitting director of finance was therefore invited on the basis of a board resolution. However, section 9 (1) of the ZNBC Act quoted by the controlling officer refers to the appointment of members to Sub-committees while the appointment of board members is the responsibility of the minister.”
Labels: AUDITOR GENERAL, UTH, ZNBC
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Rona Mwanawasa still in UTH
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Friday, October 02, 2009 8:28:18 AM
UNIVERSITY Teaching Hospital (UTH) public relations manager Pauline Mbangweta yesterday said late president Levy Mwanawasa’s sister, Rona, is still admitted to UTH.
Mbangweta, however, described her condition as stable but said the late president’s other sister who was taking care of Rona also fell ill and was currently admitted to the hospital as well. And Mbangweta described the condition of home affairs deputy minister Misheck Bonshe as stable. Mbangweta said Bonshe was recovering.
Bonshe, who is also Mufumbwe MMD member of parliament, has been admitted to the hospital since last month.
Labels: UTH
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UTH admits Teta to ICU
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Thursday, September 03, 2009 12:10:48 AM
LOCAL government and housing minister Benny Tetamashimba has been brought back from a South African hospital and is admitted to Lusaka's University Teaching Hospital (UTH) intensive care unit (ICU).
A check at the UTH found a notice on the door of the ICU ward, which read: "Strictly No Visitors for Hon. Ben Tetamashimba." And government sources close to Tetamashimba revealed that the minister was very sick.
"Yes, I can confirm that Hon Tetamashimba came back from South Africa yesterday [Tuesday] and was straight away taken to the UTH intensive care unit around 16:00 or 16:30 hours. If you went to UTH now, you will find him there but his condition is bad. He is a sick man; he is very sick. He is not talking," the source said. "He is supposed to be at UTH. All I can tell you is that there was no need for him to be in South Africa."
Another source said Tetamashimba was taken to UTH in a convoy.
The source said some senior government and ruling MMD officials accompanied Tetamashimba to UTH.
"They used the VIP entrance through the maternity ward to bring him to the ICU ward," the source said. "People who were on the bedside of the patients in ward G11 yesterday [Tuesday] morning were ordered to go outside, behind the wards claiming that VIP [Very Important People] visitors were coming, but the visitor they were referring to was Hon Tetamashimba who was brought to the ICU around 16:30 hours using the VIP entrance behind the maternity ward."
Tetamashimba is also MMD chairman for publicity and member of parliament for Solwezi Central.
On Sunday August 9, 2009, Tetamashimba was evacuated and admitted to Morningside Clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa for specialised medical treatment.
The government remains tight-lipped about Tetamashimba's ailment.
Labels: BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, UTH
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