Drug theft scandal rocks UBH
HEALTH and Child Care deputy minister Sleiman Kwidini has sensationally claimed that management at one of the country’s biggest hospitals, United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH), is scuttling government efforts to run the institution smoothly amid allegations of corruption in awarding tenders and rampant theft of essential drugs.
Kwidini has charged that the institution is riddled with a myriad of problems that include abuse of power, mismanagement and a plot to sabotage government efforts.
Speaking after a tour of the health institution, Kwidini described the UBH management team as “anti-government”.
“But as you are aware now, UBH is one of the institutions causing this trouble, especially the management. They do not have a unity of purpose, each and every one does what he or she thinks is right for him or herself, and not for the patients,” Kwidini declared.
“I recommend sending a delegation on a fact finding mission and unearth the rot, especially that is hindering the quality of health service delivery. Heads are going to roll because we don't expect this from people employed by the government and sabotaging the ministry. People are always expecting kickbacks after awarding tenders.”
He accused management at the institution of failing to order drugs from the National Pharmaceuticals Company (NatPharm), thereby short-changing patients.
“We have come here to get information on the ground so that when the decisions are to be made, they are made properly. We have people who are giving us fake information and statistics such that the government does its planning based on misinformation.
“At UBH, there is a disaster. There are some people who are taking patients’ lives for granted by not doing their job. Firstly, we have seen that our pharmacy is supposed to be filled up, unfortunately, someone is sleeping on the job as there are no stocks when we know that NatPharm which we visited before coming here is stocked up,” the deputy minister said.
He said the prolonged neglect of issues at UBH had gone unnoticed for too long, prompting the government to take action by dispatching a team to conduct a factfinding mission.
“Auditors are sent to the ground, not for individuals to promote these cartels. Even the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) has been asking about this issue of drug shortages in hospitals, it is a serious matter. UBH is one of the institutions that are causing this trouble, especially the management,” he said.
Kwidini further accused UBH management of suspending chief pharmacist Juliet Kumurai and two nurses without following proper procedures or justification and based the suspension on the opinions of one Sithole and William Busumani, the UBH chief medical officer.
“These were suspended because they are barriers, especially the chief pharmacist; she is a barrier to the cartel of these drugs being stolen from UBH. We found that the problem at UBH is not a government problem, but individuals, especially the chief medical officer and the operations director,” Kwidini added.
Asked for a comment, Busumani said: “Those issues are referred to the permanent secretary.”