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NewsDay

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Harare Central Hospital bars new patients

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HARARE Central Hospital, one of the country’s major referral centres, is in serious crisis

HARARE Central Hospital, one of the country’s major referral centres, is in serious crisis.

Report by Feluna Nleya

It has has stopped admitting new patients except those in critical condition as it is always fully booked.

A notice by the hospital stuck on the admissions section read: “This notice serves to inform you that medical wards are full to capacity. Kindly seek medical assistance elsewhere.”

The hospital’s clinical director George Vera confirmed to NewsDay that the situation was now dire.

Although Vera could not shed more light on the matter, sources said some patients were being discharged before they fully recovered due to the crisis at the referral hospital.

Vera partly attributed the situation to failure by patients to pay for tests conducted at laboratories in time, forcing them to remain in hospital longer than they should.

“The problem that we face is that the medical wards are full because most of the people admitted there have to have tests run on them and they do not get discharged early. So we are trying to improve the situation by having the labs work as efficiently as they can to produce results for the patients as quickly as possible,” Vera said.

“We can have 10 patients admitted suffering from a headache and we have to really find out the real problem.”

Vera further bemoaned the financial positions of most of their patients who often failed to pay hospital bills thereby contributing to the financial crisis at the institution.

“We do not have enough resources as we cater for the poor patients who cannot afford to pay their hospital bills,” he said.