CMS storemen caught tempering with medical supplies
MBABANE – Two staff members at the Central Medical Stores (CMS) are in hot water after being caught allegedly tempering with medical supplies packages
Documented evidence in a form of a report compiled by senior officers of the entity revealed that the two employees allegedly took outside payments from suppliers enlisted by government. The payment received by the two employees was for them to re-package and put in labels to the supplies delivered at the CMS.
QUARANTINE
The supplies in question were kept under quarantine at the stores. Medical supplies with defects or queries are quarantined according to the rules of procurement until the supplier rectifies the problem or corrects the mistake.
Ministry of Health Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Simon Zwane confirmed that the ministry was aware of such a matter and was dealing with it using its internal structures. Zwane said the ministry was not at liberty to discuss the details of the case, as it was still review.
“I have been updated and I am aware of the issue. CMS is currently handling it internally and they are not at the stage of sharing it with the media. Our procurement unit is dealing with the supplier who did not perform according to the contract granted,” he said.
Zwane emphasised that the items in question were not consumables which means the nation had no reason to worry.
The documents reveal that the two employees at the CMS were found working on a shipment that was delivered by one of the suppliers based in South Africa. The supplier’s name is also contained in the report, but shall not be mentioned until formal action has been instituted by the government.
A letter was written by Assistant Director at CMS, Themba Motsa, addressed to the PS through the director of Health and copied to the Procurement Unit for necessary attention. The letter gave detail of the case and requested that the ministry institute an investigation.
“Please find attached as report on the concerning behaviour of the CMS storemen who are responsible for receiving health products at CMS. They were found to be packaging and labelling products delivered by a supplier, when we asked them they said to have already been paid and have to complete the assignment. We are therefore, kindly requesting assistance to investigate and discipline this unethical behaviour” wrote Motsa in the covering letter where a detailed report was attached.
CAUGHT IN THE ACT
The report gave details of how the two employees were caught in the act and how they continued even though they were told to stop the alleged illegal packaging and labelling of the supplies. The officer who compiled the report is known, but will not be revealed until the investigation has been concluded.
The supplies in contention include different sizes of face masks for anaesthesia with a transparent inflatable disposable detail, 5 000 disposable 22G needles, 20 000 Set Solution Administration 20 Drops (Dial-A-Flow with in-built control flow and swap quantities) and Gauze Swabs 8-PLY.
“As I walked into my office, I remembered that the shipment they were working on had some problems which were reported to me by one of them when it arrived at the warehouse. The problems included that some items delivered under Order EG22103640 were not complying with all the delivery specification required by CMS Standard operating procedures (SOPs),” reads the report.
The report states that the two confirmed that they were putting stickers on the unit product, as the product did not meet the CMS required standard to be received. It was revealed that the medical supplies were kept in quarantine waiting for the suppliers to rectify their mistake.
According to the report, the employees revealed that the supplier hired them to put the stickers and they saw nothing wrong in assisting the supplier. They allegedly continued with the tempering even after they were advised to stop.
“Seeing that the load was heavy for them, they then requested some of the CMS staff to assist them. Some employees did assist the duo and they were promised to be paid. The supplier had already given the money to one of the two to distribute to manpower.