SAKUBVA District Hospital (SDH) is in the eye of a corruption storm involving doctors, nurses and supporting staff who are allegedly demanding money ranging from US$100 to US$200 from expecting mothers booked for Caesarean section in exchange of service delivery at the Government hospital.
The expecting mothers, most of them would have been
referred to the hospital from rural areas in Mutare District and local city
clinics, are left with no option, but to fork out the money to the hospital
staff who include general hands and anaesthetists.
In 2017, President Mnangagwa, announced that all costs
associated with maternity care at public hospitals would be covered by the
Government, as well as care for children under five years of age and adults
over 65.
However, two-month-long investigations conducted by The
Manica Post revealed that expecting mothers were paying through the nose to
deliver their babies at Sakubva District Hospital.
The deep-rooted rot at the hospital where poor service has
become the order of the day has resulted in mortalities that could have been
avoided.
This is reportedly contributing to the high Manicaland
Institutional Maternal Mortality Rate (IMMR) which currently stands at 111 per
100 000 deaths.
This is the highest in the country.
Acting Deputy Director of Reproductive Health in the
Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Mavin Venge recently said Manicaland
recorded the highest IMMR in the country during the first half of 2022.
“Manicaland has recorded 111 cases per 100 000 live births
in Institutional Maternal Mortality Rate (IMMR). Mashonaland West is slightly
behind Manicaland with 98 deaths per 100 000 live births and then comes
Masvingo Province which has recorded 57 deaths per 100 000 live births cases so
far,” said Dr Venge.
IMMR is the number of maternal deaths during a given time
period per 100 000 live births.
In an interview, Mutare District Medical Officer, Dr David
Muchirewese confirmed receiving complaints from different patients accusing the
doctors, nurses and other supporting staff at Sakubva Hospital of corruption.
However, he could not shed more light as the Ministry of
Health and Child Care is still conducting internal investigations on the issue.
“Only two incidents have been formally reported to my office
and we are currently investigating them. It is only after the investigations
that we will know what really transpired and the facts of the matter. We are
sure that in the next two or three weeks we will have concluded the
investigations and established the facts,” said Dr Muchirewese.
However, investigations revealed that the expecting mothers
are given an option of either paying a bride or risk suffering a stillbirth or
dying awaiting delivery as the doctors and nurses refuse to attend to them.
It emerged that every night, nurses go into the maternity
ward and tell those due for Caesarean section the following day to call their
relatives to bring money for the services to be rendered.
When in theatre, the money, which is not receipted, is
allegedly handed over to the anaesthetist before he or she starts working.
Some patients have been booted out of theatre after failing
to pay the money.
A Sakubva woman who gave birth at the hospital on November
1 said she had to fork out US$130 to be served.
“My due date was October 31, but because I had no money, I
had to endure labour pains the whole night and risk my life and that of my baby
as l waited for my relatives to raise the money.
“They told me that US$30 was for the anaesthetist while
US$40 was for the theatre. About US$60 was for the equipment. The rates depend
on the doctor who will be on duty. I was charged US$1S0, but others paid as
much as US$200 on that same day.
“People are dying because of failure to raise the money. I
witnessed five deaths during my admission at the hospital,” said the woman who
requested anonymity.
One of the doctors (name supplied) allegedly reported for
duty while stone drunk and demanded a top-up of US$30 after he had already been
given US$70 by a patient who had long been booked for a Caesarean section.
It is alleged that the patient, Ms Tafadzwa Chasieni, who
was already on the theatre table, was kicked out of the theatre by the doctor
and a male nurse (name supplied) after she had failed to pay the top-up.
Ms Chasieni had to be rushed to Victoria Chitepo Provincial
Hospital where it was discovered that she had suffered a stillbirth.
The issue went viral on social media last week after she
filed a complaint with the hospital’s matron and Dr Muchirewese.
The letter reads: “I, Tafadzwa Chasieni arrived at Sakubva
District Hospital at around 12pm. I was told to wait for the doctor and he
instructed (sic) for an operation. I was asked to pay US$70 which I paid to the
so-called doctor. Up to 5pm, I had not been operated on, with him asking for
US$30 from me as an additional top-up. He later told me that he was not going
to operate me and asked me to get out of the surgery. That is when I realised
that he was drunk . . . ,” wrote the woman.
Contacted for comment, Ms Chasieni’s sister who requested
anonymity said the matter is being dealt with by higher authorities and
promised to update The Manica Post after the finalisation of the issue.
A hospital staff member who also requested anonymity said
the alleged corruption and malpractice has been going on for quite some time at
the hospital.
“It has been going on for long now and it has now become
quite sickening because most of these women cannot afford the money they are
asked to pay. They end up being booted out of the theatre room without
receiving any services.
“They are usually transferred to Victoria Chitepo
Provincial Hospital at the last minute. Most of the time it will be too late as
some would have suffered stillbirths,” said the staffer.
The Manica Post also unearthed that the hospital staff
refuses to use delivery sundries like latex gloves, linen savers and razor
blades that the patients bring with them for delivery, despite them being new,
and trick the patients into buying from them.
The said sundries which usually go for as little as US$10
in most pharmacies and supermarkets are sold to the expecting mothers for
amounts ranging between US$60 and US$100 at the hospital.
To put things into perspective, one pair of gloves cost
US$4 at Sakubva District Hospital.
One of the women who recently gave birth at the hospital,
Ms Tatenda Manyika said she went to the hospital with new latex gloves, razor
blades and linen savers, but was told that she had brought the wrong things.
“My sister offered to go and buy the right things in town
but the nurses hurriedly put me under a scan. They told me that my child was
already dead and that I had to buy the things from them as l had to be attended
to urgently. They said carrying a dead baby is life threatening,” said Ms
Manyika.
Ms Manyika said she had to buy the stuff for US$60 from the
nurses, even though it was similar to what she had brought to the hospital.
“After paying for the things, the doctor told me that my
baby was alive and I delivered a bouncing baby girl. I was shocked because I
had been made to believe that I had suffered a stillbirth and it traumatised
me,” said Ms Manyika.
However, luck was not on her side.
A day after the operation, the stitches pulled off and pus
oozed out of her stomach.
“I went to Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital where I was
told that something had been left inside my stomach. I was never told whether
it was a foreign object or if it was just excess blood but pus kept coming out.
“I was hospitalized for a month after that and fortunately
I managed to survive to tell this sad tale,” said Ms Manyika. Manica Post
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