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Home / Katutura hospital faces critical shortage of gynaecologists
Katutura hospital faces critical shortage of gynaecologists
2018-03-12Staff Report 2 Alvine Kapitako Windhoek-The gynaecology department at the Katutura Intermediate Hospital has a critical shortage of staff, and the State is calling on private doctors to assist. “We don’t have gynaecologists now in the State. I have directed that we draft a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the State and private doctors with particular attention to gynaecologists and anaesthetists to contract them not only in Windhoek but also at district hospitals on a regular basis,” the Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Bernard Haufiku, revealed on Saturday. Speaking to a team of mainly doctors, who will this week conduct medical outreach in the Erongo and Kavango regions, Haufiku explained that a fee could be worked out with these specialists. So far, many of these specialists that the health minister spoke to were very understanding of the proposed MoU, he said. “I am almost convinced that if we craft it [MoU] nicely the savings on the money that we spend to keep patients waiting at State facilities and later send them to Medi-Clinic or Lady Pohamba private hospitals will be much better,” said the minister. Many of the doctors he spoke to said they would charge the State fees that are below the Namibian Association of Medical Aid Funds fees, “which is a good thing”, said Haufiku. In the case of gynaecologists, there are more advantages for the state, Haufiku noted. This is because quite a number of gynaecologists are not practising obstetrics in the private sector. “Many of them are being charged a lot of premium for obstetrics services. We (State) will negotiate a cover for you just like we do for our State doctors for any case related to obstetrics care,” said Haufiku, explaining that this way the private doctors would be able to practice obstetric care on State patients. 2018-03-12Staff Report 2
