This according to some essential medical personnel at the hospital, is affecting their work as they are supposed to arrange staff swapping, bring food or leave patients and look for the food.

They also said that it is very worrisome for the patients who have no guardians to prepare food for them like some on TB treatment.

Last Friday, the Thyolo district hospital authorities issued an internal communication to the staff indicating that the suppliers would deliver the food stuff on Monday this week, but this has not happened.

Meanwhile, in a written response on Monday, the hospital's service administrator, Montfort Nkhoma has pledged that the food provision will resume soon, adding that they value the importance of food to the patients.

Nkhoma has explained that "this has come about since suppliers raised their food stuffs prices when the government had already funded the facility."

He has added that now the procurement team is working with urgency to address the situation.