UNIVERSITY Teaching Hospital (UTH) public relations manager Pauline Mbangweta has refuted media reports that the main hospital ran out of supply to the operating theatre. In an interview yesterday Ms Mbangweta explained that the UTH oxygen plant experienced a supply fault of the service on Monday.
She said the development caused a low supply of the commodity into the cylinder pipes to the theatres resulting into inadequate pressure delivery of oxygen.
“The situation is normal now. We have normal supply of oxygen. What we experienced was a low supply of oxygen from the plant into cylinders.
“It’s actually wrong to say that UTH has run out of oxygen because the four main theatres only experienced a low supply of oxygen and the problem was worked on,” she said.
UTH on Monday experienced a critical low supply of oxygen in the four main theatres but the situation has now normalised.
Several patients on Monday were reportedly to have been turned away because of inadequate supply of oxygen as only emergency cases were attended to.
Oxygen therapy is the administration of oxygen as a medical intervention, which can be for a variety of purposes in both chronic and acute patient care and is essential for cell metabolism.
The affected major operation theatres at the country’s highest referral health institution included the emergency theatre which caters for emergency casualty cases.
Others were the main theatre, DO1 theatre for children and the C Block theatre mostly used for gynecology cases.
UTH public relations manager Pauline Mbangweta confirmed the low shortage of oxygen at the four major theatres.
A check, however, revealed the emergency, main, DO1 theatres and the C Block theatre had started operating after experiencing a low supply of the commodity from the oxygen plant which developed a technical fault.
According to some workers at C Block theatre, they said they were only able to carry out emergency cases at the theatre due to lower oxygen supply on Monday.
They said several women who went for operations at C Block theatre were taken to other operation theatres.
The sources were however, confident that management would successfully work on the problem.
They said UTH being the highest referral health institution should always be equipped with necessities such as sufficient supply of oxygen to all theatres.
It just run out of air
…And the situation is stable now… he heh he.
it is unfortunately that someone misinformed the minister or the minister was in a harry……be slow to speak and quick to listen
State House intervened. This Statement was issue from bwinjifumu via State House to Mbangweta’s office!
Running out, low supply, outrunning, etc, have the same effect on operations – not sure what the PRO is trying to dispute here; as her profession entails, per Kapelwe Musonda discovery (he once discovered that the PROs’ job was to dispute, refute, deny, etc, any statements attributed to their organisations!).
but the bottom line is that, there was less oxygen at UTH hence their rationing on which patients to attend to. who knows some of those sent back have died? so mbangweta should just own up!
THe Managing director and all his cohorts should resign.
that is a serious story and should not be taken as a joke,if its a fake story the auther should be sorted out, if story is true the logistics man incharge of procurrement should be held accountable, some action to corretion should be encouraged this will up efficiencies especially at such institutions.
It is a true story and Management will do all it can to cover up their incompentences and greed.
UTC is just pathetic, you enjoy seeing people die!!
vimeno meno..say the truth..
If you don’t have enough mealimeal for super then you have run out. They had low supply then they had run out. Let’s not hide our inefficiencies in the language. Heads should roll. The other time state house had to interven
Where are investigative journalists when you need them…today’s journalists are just good for taking down notes from public statements!!
its a lie. what about when surgeons refuse to operate as a result of lack of oxygen and when patients die on the operating theatre because the oxygen runs out. Managing director must tell teh truth and go together with all his lying cohorts. This is a very serious issue I wish relatives of patients who have died during and after surgery should ask for inquiries into how they died and if proven to be a case that they wer starved of oxyegn, then they should sue the pants off UTH. Enough is enough!!!!
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