Kasama General hospital management cries for its upgrading

Kasama General hospital management cries for its upgrading

KASAMA, March 29, 2014, ZANIS, — Kasama General Hospital management has appealed to government to speed up its upgrading to a tertiary level hospital following the commencement of its modernisation.

Hospital Medical Superintendant Dr Elijah Mutoloki says with the arrival of the state of the art medical equipment, the hospital has made great strides in providing quality health care to people of Northern Province.

He said with the expected arrival of a CT scan and Renal Dialysis machine, the hospital will provide improved and much needed health services to the communities adding that this development had increased the number of patients preferring to get medical services to his hospital.

Dr Mutoloki also praised the Ministry of Health for sending a team of 14 specialist doctors under the Jubilee Medical Outreach programme to Kasama General Hospital to offer specialized treatment and health care services to the numerous complicated medical cases on the hospital’s referral list.

He said in five days the specialist doctors have attended to over 1,000 patients and successfully performed 130 surgical operations which included the removal of a large tumor on the head of a 66 year old Kasama woman who had carried it for over 30 years.

“I want to thank the Jubilee Team for choosing to come to Kasama General Hospital. All patients on the waiting list for referral to UTH or Ndola Central have been cleared. We have no pending cases," he said.

Dr Mutoloki observed that referrals are a burden to the Hospital and patients because they cost a lot but because of the medical jubilee outreach programme huge savings will be made.

He said the resident medical team and support staff have appreciated the presence of the jubilee team because they are getting continuous medical education.

And Northern Province Clinical Care Specialist Dr Lawrence Phiri has commended government for embarking on a programme to provide specialist treatment to rural patients that are unable to access such services.

Dr. Phiri said the initiative by the Ministry of Health to take Specialist Doctors from around the country will provide quality health care services to many patients.

The Province Clinical Care Specialist said the move will reduce the number of referral cases from provincial hospitals to University Teaching Hospital.

The Ministry of Health in commemorating Golden Jubilee Independence Celebrations initiated a Medical Jubilee outreach programme that provides specialist Doctors to treat and perform surgical operations in provincial centers to patients on the referral list to UTH and Ndola Central Hospital.