Hospital not up to scratch: Sir Puka

National

By OGIA MIAMEL

PORT Moresby General Hospital is a level seven hospital but it does not have the resources to function as one, according to Health and HIV/AIDS Minister Sir Puka Temu.
Sir Puka told a Development Partners Summit in Port Moresby this week that the hospital needed to be capable of providing services like cardiac bypass surgery and organ transplant.
“Port Moresby General Hospital is expected to be level seven, in reality it is not, and so we need to now work as a country to give a level-seven hospital to our nation,” the minister said.
“We owe it to our people because many of our people need for a cardiac bypass, they go to Manila. They need transplant they go overseas, as well as for cancer (treatment). These are our realest priorities.”
Sir Puka said they would recommend a three-year programme and work with the management to improve specialist services over the next five years.
He urged development partners attending the summit to come up with an approach that could be used in a structural and uniform manner.
“What is the best vehicle the partners and the national government can deliver for a common management structure, not develop parallel programmes,” he said. “In the health sector, we’ve got many excellent partners. We are looking for a common system so we can use it.”