Under-staffed Angau continues to serve despite problems

Lae News, Normal
Source:

The Nationl, Monday 3rd September, 2012

ANGAU Memorial General Hospital presented its clinical report last Friday after the celebration to mark its 100th meeting the previous day.
The report for the period June 2011-June 2012 contained data that was collected from the hospital’s medical records on attendance and admissions.
The hospital serves an increasing catchment area whose population is estimated to be approximately 200,000, with the Morobe population estimated to be 650,000 since the year 2007.
Presenting the report, hospital chairman Benson Nablu said despite the difficulties faced, the management and staff of the hospital were not discouraged with the state of infrastructure or the lack of equipment.
“I would like to thank the board and management for their support in managing the hospital and no doubt with the support of business houses, churches and others, we have high hopes of continuing our services,” Nablu said.
He said the hospital should have 216 staff members but was working with a staff of 103.
“We hope to get more staff through advertising vacancies.
“The departments of personnel management, health and finance have given a good indication that we could recruit qualified specialists from overseas if they are not available from within the country,” Nablu said.
In the report, the hospital board had approved the procurement of an ultra-sound scanner, cardiac monitor, ventilator, orthopaedic bed, urology equipment, a bed pan sanitiser and an operating table that are all in use.
The hospital has averaged almost 20,000 patients admitted to all the wards annually and the admittance numbers have been increasing steadily over the past five years.
Nablu said although there were 10 clinics in and around Lae City that should be looking after primary cases, “most do not run or operate to full capacity because of law and order problems”.
“The clinics are vandalised or the staff are threatened, which disrupts the functions of the clinics.
“And patients are forced to come to Angau, which adds immense pressure to our staff,” Nablu said.
He appealed to communities not to hold up, rob or threaten staff of the clinics and challenged people to take personal hygiene as their responsibility.