Shortage of Equipment Affects QECH Operations
Chairperson of Friends of Sick Children and Pediatrics Emergency Medicine Consultant, Dr Josephine Langton says shortage of equipment is compromising quality delivery of health services to children at the referral Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.
Dr Langton says the Pediatric Emergency Department has, for example, no emergency trolleys and monitoring machines despite the fact that the facility treat about 70, 000 sick children annually of which 50 percent are referred to emergency room.
"We do not have equipment we need to deliver high quality of care to children. We still have broken beds, we do not have emergency trolleys, resuscitating area and monitoring equipment," Langton said.
Meanwhile Anadkat Foundation has on Friday handed over first phase of reconstruction of pediatric ward project to address challenges of space among others at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.
Langton has commended the gesture by the family of Hitesh Anadkat the First Capital Bank founder by reconstructing spacious pediatric emergency ward in the first phase of the project aimed at improving quality health care services offered to children.
"The first phase of this project (a three phased Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Pediatric Ward Project) is a milestone to us because the space is more functional than we used to be. The environment has improved for both workers and children and we hope we will deliver possible quality health care children of Malawi deserve, "she said.
"We are very driven to best save lives of sick children in Malawi. With this building the privacy of children will be taken into consideration and probably reduce preventable deaths we have had experienced before, "Langton added.
(By Mathias Mkupasha)