Oshakati hospital understaffed

Senior staff at Oshakati Intermediate Hospital have told minister of health and social services Kalumbi Shangula that the hospital is short-staffed, and most staff members are overworked.

In the maternal ward, only three healthcare providers attend to expectant mothers referred from 11 district hospitals, the staff members say.
The referring hospitals are those at Opuwo, Tsandi, Outapi, Okahao, Oshikuku, Engela, Eenhana, Okongo, Onandjokwe, Omuthiya and Tsumeb.

A doctor at the hospital on Thursday during a closed-door meeting with the minister told Shangula the few available medical officers also perform caesarean sections and are responsible for training interns.

“There are no rooms to rest. No skills transfer. We cannot go on like this. These medical officers are overworked,” he said.

Another doctor said the hospital has been losing specialists as staff members are forced to work even when they are on sick or annual leave.

Also present at the meeting was executive director of health and social services Ben Nangombe and Oshana health director Johanna Iimene.

Another doctor, who identified himself as an eye specialist, said he cannot do his job due to insufficient equipment.

He said the hospital’s eye department depends on donors and that he works halfday only.

Oshana chief medical officer Asumani Kibandwa said there is a need to capacitate health centres to decongest the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital.

“Primary healthcare at Oshana is not functioning well. First, we don’t have 24-hour healthcare. The only facility we have that works 24 hours is at Okatana,” he said.

Kibandwa said despite this, the facility does not have sufficient human resources.

He said the region needs at least two more healthcare centres operating 24 hours a day.

He said there are no consultation rooms at the Oshakati healthcare facility.

“When one patient is seated, they are listening to what the other patient is saying. I don’t want to talk about the waiting area. We have been complaining about the waiting area since last year. Can we look at the Oshana region? We should have a well-constructed healthcare centre,” he said.

Kibandwa said there is a need for a 24-hour maternity ward at the Oshakati centre.

“If we can have a well-constructed Oshakati healthcare centre, it would assist the Oshakati hospital to function like a teaching hospital, like a referral or specialised hospital,” he said.

Oshakati Intermediate Hospital serves 11 district hospitals and about four healthcare centres.

The hospital has three maternal beds, while the Okatana health centre has two. A third bed was added to a Covid-19 ward.

Some patients from neighbouring Angola also seek medical attention at the Oshakati hospital.

Shangula told staff members that Angolan patients should be treated like Namibians, as some Namibians also seek treatment in Angola.