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Rain soaks patients at Gwanda hospital

by Staff reporter
07 Mar 2014 at 08:41hrs | Views
Female patients admitted at Gwanda hospital have to take cover each time it rains because of a leaking roof at the provincial referral centre.

Bulawayo24 witnessed patients gathering water using buckets from a leaking ceiling during a recent visit to the hospital following a public outcry.

Relatives who had gone to visit the sick could not hide their anger at the hospital's management.

"We cannot have this happening, l will approach the local leadership and report this, the hospital authorities have to fix this as a matter of urgency," a relative could be heard complaining.

The leakage has seen patients being forced to crowd in a corner to avoid being soaked in water.

"We are now at risk of catching other diseases as we have crowded into one corner,the authorities have remained silent about the issue," said a patient who requested anonymity.

The town has in the past weeks received unprecedented rainfall worsening the plight of female patients on admission at the hospital.

Although the hospitals' administrator could not be reached for comment, health minister David Parirenyatwa recently condemned the health facility saying it was a mockery of what a hospital is supposed to be.

The hospital lacks basic medical equipment and has also faced a critical shortage of basic medication.

The casualty department is in the 'intensive care', resembling more of a headmasters office than an emergency  room.

Parirenyatwa says plans are on course to build a "proper hospital".

Source - Byo24News