Thyolo patients forced to get x-ray services from Mulanje
People from Thyolo are failing to access hospital screening services in time due to the breaking down of x-ray machines at the district hospital forcing some patients and guardians to use their own transport to access the same services from Mulanje District Hospital.
A guardian, Christopher Kanyowa said on Friday it had taken his sister two weeks after being diagnosed to be screened at Mulanje District Hospital as Thyolo District Hospital could not offer them transport in time after they were referred to get the x-ray.
“My sister who has now been admitted to the TB ward was recommended to go for a chest x-ray but she had been waiting for transport for two weeks, but in the end we had to use our transport. She was screened at Mulanje which had a lot of people waiting for the x-ray and brought the film to the hospital and now she is on TB treatment.
“There are some people who are still waiting to be screened but cannot afford the transport and they are just waiting for the hospital officials to help them,” said Kanyowa.
Another guardian who sought anonymity concurred with Kanyowa saying her sister had been admitted to the hospital and required screening, but she is still waiting for the officials to come to their rescue.
She said her sister had miscarried, was losing a lot of blood and had already been given two pints of blood but the problem has not been diagnosed yet. She added that they were waiting for the referral.
Thyolo District Hospital Administrator, Bright Ndaonavino confirmed in an interview with Mana that the machine had been on and off and said the referrals were still there.
“At first the x-ray machine broke down and some consultants came to fix it. They maintained both the portable machine and fixed machine but only the portable machine is still working while the fixed machine is not working.
“The referrals are only for the cases of screening which cannot be done by the small machine, but we have an ambulance that is dedicated to assist in the referrals. We always communicate with our friends in Mulanje to assist us and we also help them when their machine is broken,” said Ndaonavino.
Ndaonavino, however, said that there had not been any disruption of the referrals and further argued that there were no delays contrary to the complaints made by the people.
