Patients sleep in corridors

SOME patients who are referred to Windhoek Central Hospital from the regions have had to spend the night sleeping in the corridors because of the shortage of space in the wards.

When The Namibian visited the hospital on Tuesday night, the west wing on the fourth floor about 10 patients were sitting or laying on mattresses which were spread on the floor in the west wing of the fourth floor. The mattresses were laid in such a way that they blocked the path to the wards.

Although most of the patients were not happy with the situation, they did not want to give their names because they feared the nurses would victimise them.

One of the women expressed shock saying she did not expect the hospital to treat them in that manner. She said apart from spending the night on thin mattresses spread out on the floor, some of the nurses did not show any care about their plight.

“This is really bad. My mother is old and for her to be lying like that is bad. We understand there is no space but this is not the first time this is happening. What is the hospital management doing about this? Please do something for our parents. No one would want their parent to be treated like this,” she appealed.

Another patient who suffers from severe back pain said her situation became worse after sleeping on the floor.

“This mattress is so thin and the cold from the cement floor is really affecting my back and the pain has become worse. This is not good. I don’t know about the others but for me even standing up is a problem because the mattress is too low,” she said.

According to the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Ministry of Health and Social Services released in January this year, lack of adequate space at most health facilities compromises patient care as well as privacy and confidentiality.

The report also said that staff at most health facilities indicated that inadequate space was making their work difficult. They attributed this to the implementation of new programmes without corresponding expansion of space and facilities.

To avoid overcrowding, the report recommended that working hours should be revised and that medical specialists from referral hospital should undertake outreach programmes to district hospitals.

Ministry of Health and Social Services spokesperson Ester Paulus yesterday said she would only be able to comment when she recieved information about the situation from the hospital.

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