Hospital charges up by 5 times more
According to the new secular, to see a specialist doctor, patients will pay Sh15,000, medical doctor Sh10,000, assistant medical officer Sh2,000 and Sh1,500 for clinical officer.
What you need to know:
The circular, which replaces the previous one issued in 1997, has increased charges for services up to five times.
Dodoma. The government has through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare issued a circular on the new rates for health contributions in various referral hospitals in the country.
The circular, which replaces the previous one issued in 1997, has increased charges for services up to five times.
The acting Dodoma Referral Hospital medical officer, Dr Nassoro Mzee, confirmed to The Citizen that his hospital had received the new secular on the new rates for health services which came into force on Tuesday.
According to Dr Mzee, the new rates aim at improving health services basing on the current situation in the public hospitals.
Dr Mzee said that earlier, patients were paying Sh3,000 to seek consultation from any medical doctor at the hospital, but now they would be required to pay according to the specialty of the doctor.
Pregnant women will continue enjoying free delivery charges, but those who would opt for private services will be required to pay Sh50,000. Also charges for admitting patients has been increased from Sh2,000 a week to Sh15,000 for the whole period that a patient will be receiving treatment at the hospital.
Patients who are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) will contribute Sh20,000, while those who go for physiotherapy will contribute Sh10,000.
On cancer test, the government has directed patients to pay Sh52,000 for Keloid radiotherapy treatment, Sh35,000 for radiotherapy planning, and Sh30,000 for radiotherapy treatment shell/mould.
Treatment for palliative radiotherapy patients will pay Sh552,5000, curative radiotherapy Sh1,125,000, brachytherapy/intracavitary Sh600,000 and extended local /hemi body radiotherapy Sh300,000.
Mr Hamza Juma said since doctors’ salaries and cost of buying hospital beds and medicines came from taxpayers, there was no need for the government to increase cost.
