Sierra Leone News: Government Neglects Kukuna Hospital
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
Musa Bangura, a community health officer of Kukuna, the Chiefdom Headquarter town of Kambia District, has told Premier News that the hospital in the town lacks ambulance facility, adequate free healthcare drugs, water facility, and solar energy which have negatively impacted on its operations. He said so on Wednesday
Bangura said on Wednesday that due to increased demand for free healthcare service in the Chiefdom, the hospital always faces shortage in free healthcare drugs. The hospital in Kukuna is the only big hospital which inhabitants of Bramaia and Khonimaka Chiefdoms in Kambia District could access.
“Due to inflow of patients from both chiefdoms …, the drugs supplied by government are not enough to meet the needs of the people, which normally affect the effectiveness of the hospital,” Bangura said.
He further said that the drugs which Government supplies to the hospital after every three months is not enough because of the number of people that access the hospital.
“We experience shortage of drugs in the hospital shortly after the quarterly supply,” he emphasized.
He also added that the hospital has no ambulance service, and this situation usually causes them to call for assistance from Madina and Kambia town for ambulance to be brought to them whenever they have serious cases in the hospital at Kukuna.
“Sometimes, patients die before the ambulance arrives at the hospital. In fact, we were recently in Tonko Limba Chiefdom when we were denied assistance with an Ambulance which led to the death of the patient because there was no other ambulance that we could have utilized,” he said.
He also said that the hospital had no solar extension phase which could serve as a source of electricity.
“We usually use torchlights and Chinese light to attend to patients at night,” he stated.
He also said that the hospital had over 10 staff, but has only one quarter which comprises two two-bedroom apartments.
He said that one of the apartments is for the midwife, while the other apartment is for the doctor and his family. He said that the rest of the staff is residing in the town because the staff quarter at the hospital could not accommodate all of them. He said that the situation has greatly contributed to minimize the effectiveness of the staff.
Bangura stated that the Government has recently posted 11 other staff and one medical practitioner to the hospital at Kukuna town which had worsened the problem of staff accommodation at the hospital.
He said that the entire hospital has one labor room which has two beds which serves both post-natal and pre-natal patients. He also said that due to the lack of adequate rooms and beds for post-natal care, the maximum duration for patient or women who have delivered is four days.
Bangura said that he had tried so many times to see that the hospital is in good condition. He said, “I have written letters to the government including relevant stakeholders in the health sector to address the constraints of the hospital but to no avail. I am appealing to the government, NGOs and other stakeholders to assist the hospital,” he pleaded. He said, “The hospital needs rehabilitation, quarters, water facility, drugs and solar energy for the effective running…”
The Councilor of Ward 191, constituency 67 in Kambia District, Abu Bakar Kemedo Kamara said that the hospital has not been rehabilitated for over 20 years since it was built. He said that Kukuna hospital and other amenities which inhabitants of both Bramaia and Khonimaka were meant to benefit from have been neglected.
He said that the structure of the hospital has become very old, adding that the structure is very small and cannot accommodate both the staff and patients.
He said, “I have complained the matter to the Council and even to the Ministry of Health but nothing has been done towards addressing the issues.”
He called on the government to increase supplies of drugs to reduce death and infant mortality in the chiefdom, and also to extend the structure of the hospital.