| Patients turned away as doctors snub ministers | Send to a friend |
| Saturday, 28 January 2012 10:47 |
 By The Citizen ReporterDar es Salaam. The situation at major hospitals was saddening yesterday when critically ill patients rushed by ambulances to Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) were rejected on arrival. Elsewhere doctors refused meeting three ministers and top Health ministry officials. Three ambulances separately brought critically ill patients at MNH for further treatment but they could not even disembark as there was no single doctor or nurse to receive them. The ambulances from Bagamoyo District hospital, Mwananyamala and Temeke Municipal hospitals were forced to rush back to where they came from in desperate attempts to save lives of the patients. Tension was high at the Starlight Hotel, where the doctors have been convening for nearly a week, when ministers arrived for meeting the doctors. They included the minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Hadji Mponda, his deputy, Dr Lucy Nkya, minister for Public Service Management, Dr Hawa Ghasia, the Health and Social Welfare permanent secretary, Ms Blandina Nyoni and the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Deo Mtasiwa. They went to the hotel in desperate attempts to rescue the situation, but walked out disgruntled after the doctors rejected to talk to them.The doctors vowed to continue with the strike unless the government fully addressed their plight contained in a document they presented to Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda. A distressed woman who brought a patient in an ambulance bitterly complained that her relative was dying and pleaded to the government to listen to the doctors plight.“Please leave me alone!” she told a journalist seeking her particulars, adding: “I ask the government to stop playing around with people’s lives. We are dying!” The Citizen reporter heard patients screaming for help from wards as only relatives were available to assist them. Nurses were seen sitting on chairs, but they could not attend to the patients without doctor’s instructions. “How can we attend these patients without first having directives from doctors,” a nurse who opted for anonymity asked as patients screamed for help.The situation is likely to worsen following reports that nurses at the MMC have resolved to join the strike. The nurses were said to hold a meeting yesterday noon to discuss their fate following the countrywide strike that has paralysed services in public hospitals throughout the country. A spot check at the Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute (MOI) revealed that there was no services offered at the crucial section at the hospital. Patients with broken bones openly complained of poor services. “I was scheduled to come here for an operation today, but I find no single doctor to talk to; the reception is empty as you can see,” lamented a panic-stricken patient. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
