Ambulances deliver food to Mpilo

AMBULANCES are known to save lives by transporting the sick or injured to hospital, but at Mpilo Central Hospital the emergency vehicles are now saving lives by delivering food.

The referral hospital has been cooking food for its patients at Ingutsheni Central Hospital and having it delivered by ambulances, a situation which has been blamed on the non-availability of coal.  Besides cooking, coal is also used by the hospital for boiling water and sterilising surgical equipment.

Mpilo acting operations director Mr Joel Charangwa confirmed the use of ambulances as delivery vehicles.

"We have spent over a week without coal and we have been forced to improvise by going to cook at Ingutsheni which is our sister institution that we seek assistance from when we face challenges like these from time to time. The colliery said it was carrying out plant maintenance work and there was a supply chain delay such that we were not able to get our coal on time but it has since been rectified and we are expecting deliveries."

Sources within the hospital say the institution has been failing to procure coal that powers a steamer which then is used to cook for patients.

"There is no coal so we cannot cook. These pots that we use are not compatible with electricity because they have oil inside so they can only be powered by steam and we do not have the coal to enable us to do this," a hospital staffer who refused to be named said.

Patients on the other hand are saying they are now eating cold food as a result of this development.

"Sidla amalaja mntanami. The food is usually cold when it reaches this place. We hear that the hospital can cook food for the whole day and it is kept in the kitchen so usually we have cold food in the evenings," said one patient.

A hospital source further said the food sometimes delays to reach the hospital as they shuttle between the two institutions.

Food is not the only challenge that the shortage of coal has caused, all the laundry at the hospital is now being done at a dry cleaning company in the city. Theatre gowns and other linen are also being taken to the dry cleaners.

The theatre supplies at the hospital cannot be washed without the steam. This has forced the hospital to cancel some operations as the theatre supplies are sometimes delayed, said a source.

"Our ironing machines also work hand-in-hand with steam so we have not been able to iron our laundry so we have contracted a private company that is doing the steam pressing for us," Mr Charangwa said.

He further said constant supply of coal will make operations smooth at the hospital, adding that coal was an essential resource for them to function well.

Efforts to get a comment from Hwange Colliery Company public relations manager Mrs Elta Sanangura were fruitless, while marketing manager Mrs Debra Mpofu Malandu said she was not aware of the situation.

"I do not know about this issue, please contact the PR manager for more details," she said.