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Mpilo Hospital premises

From botched-up surgical operations to tender scandals involving millions, Mpilo Central Hospital has had negative Press over the past few years.

Two years ago, we unearthed a scandal involving top officials at the hospital who allegedly cancelled a $3 million tender after the winner had refused to pay them bribes.  In yet another scam that we reported around the same time, a company that had long folded up was awarded a tender to supply materials to the hospital. The central figure in these and more irregular deals at Mpilo Central Hospital was Ms Regina Duduza Moyo who has since been fired.

In December 2015 the hospital was in the news again after a former patient at the hospital complained that doctors had “forgotten” a surgical glove under her arm after an operation to remove a growth.

The hospital was indeed on the spotlight, and deservedly so, for the wrong reasons.  For some, the facility was failing to live up to its name —Mpilo — which means life. Instead of preserving life and giving life, which every health care centre must do, Mpilo was delivering death, and unnecessary suffering.

But in recent months, we have seen some very encouraging developments which we trust, will help cast the hospital in far much light.

In April, staff at Mpilo performed an undeniably miracle surgery that involved the removal of an axe from the head of a man who had been hit by the weapon in Nkayi area, Matabeleland North, 14 hours earlier. In the same month, a cancer treatment unit was opened — the facility that was the subject of the $3 million scam in 2015.

On Tuesday we reported in these pages the roll out of nuclear medicine at Mpilo Central Hospital, the first such in the country. It will be able to offer more accurate diagnosis and treatment of cancer, heart, lung and kidney diseases.  Today, we are also carrying a story on the launch of a service to offer plastic surgery at the hospital, targeting those who need their bodies to be reconstructed after accidents, not those seeking superficial enhancement of their appearances.

Experts say that nuclear medicine has the potential for early detection of diseases compared to anatomical imaging modalities at other local hospitals like ultrasound or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).

One of the main advantages of nuclear medicine imaging is that in most cases the whole body is analysed allowing advanced treatment options for patients suffering from serious illnesses such as cancer, by way of radiation or chemotherapy.

It is also more detailed and accurate and as such nuclear medicine makes complex medical procedures simpler and safer for patients.

Dr Xolani Ndlovu, who heads the Nuclear Medicine Department, said:

“We finally got our licence and the duty free certificate to purchase quality control equipment and we are ready to administer nuclear medicine. We were supposed to start administering today but we still need to get our technetium — 99m generator.

“These services will not only cater for cancer patients but will benefit others: coronary artery disease, hyperthyroidism and help in lung ventilation and perfusion imaging. We will also be able to do liver functional imaging and other diseases.”

We are really delighted for these developments, not only because they give this major health service centre a better name it deserves, but also because they deliver the services that the people desperately need.

The introduction of this advanced type of medicine will go a long way in reducing the medical costs our people incur in seeking these services elsewhere in our country or abroad. The diseases to be handled by this new technology are very serious and life-threatening, affecting the most delicate parts of the body. The importance of nuclear medicine that Mpilo will soon offer can therefore not be over-emphasised.

We know that there are hundreds if not thousands of people who literally hate themselves, or the way they look after they were involved in serious accidents that changed their facial or physical appearances. Some have suffered extensive facial burns or in other parts of their bodies that left them extensively disfigured. They lost their confidence the day they were involved in the accidents. However, there was nothing they could do to improve their looks not only because plastic surgery is generally expensive, but also because the service was all along available in distant Harare.

For the first time in history the surgeries will be available at Mpilo this week.  While we hail yet another new service at the hospital, we recognise that the surgeries will be available only once a year. We urge the Government to increase the frequency of its availability as soon as possible, even to establish a permanent presence.

These developments must give Mpilo a new start away from the needless scandals of the past few years. The new bosses at the hospital led by chief executive officer Mr Leonard Mabandi, and others such as the ever-supportive clinical director, Dr Solwayo Ngwenya, must be commended for steering the turnaround.