OSHAKATI - The Oshakati Int e rme d i ate Ho spi t a l ' s management is pleading for an independent psychiatric unit in order to address mental illness crowdedness.The head and psychiatric specialist at the hospital, Moges Admassu, said the unit is overcrowded all the time, leading to some patients sleeping on the floor. “Usually, our bed capacity is more than 100% full. Sometimes, there will be five or 10 or up to 50 patients admitted outside the ward, and they sleep on the floor,” Admassu stated.

The revelations were made during a visit to the unit by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Gender Equality, Social Development and Family Affairs, and were also reported in previous articles by this publication. The unit has a bed capacity of 140 patients – 58 female and 82 male patients. Admassu further said because of the lack of a rehabilitation institution and programme, some of the chronic patients end up relapsing and being readmitted, causing further strain on the unit.

However, in his media conference yesterday, health execut ive director Ben Nangombe did not shed much light on these findings, only saying that renovations of the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital’s psychiatric ward and demolition of existing asbestos wards are part of completed projects for the 2022/23 financial year up to August.

It was also revealed that because of a lack of adequate infrastructure, the unit is forced to admit patients in one space, regardless of the degree of their mental health. “Patients can move from one room to another. Whether the patient is stable or is unstable, or whether the patient has a different diagnosis, they are admitted in one space. Sometimes, the unstable patients thus disturb the stable patients,” Admassu added.

The unit is likewise faced with limited office space for consultations, leaving the personnel to consult up to six patients in one room, depriving them of their privacy. In addition to those c h a l l e n ge s , m e d i c a l superintendent at the hospital Ruben Kanime said they collectively face challenges of deplorable infrastructure and ageing equipment, of which some have reached their lifespan, as well as inadequate human resources, including specialists to cater to the patients.

*Nuusita Ashipala is an information officer at MICT, Oshana.