THE country’s health sector is under pressure as a nationwide shortage of healthcare workers continues to strain hospitals with Angau Memorial Hospital being forced to accommodate patients on mattresses on the floor because demand exceeds capacity.
Health secretary Pascoe Kase described the shortage of healthcare workers as one of the country’s biggest health challenges.
He said the nation had only about 18,000 nurses compared with about 70,000 teachers.
Kase said provincial health authorities (PHAs) were established as independent legal entities with the authority to determine their staffing needs, but recruitment had been slowed by administrative bottlenecks.
“We have not fully understood the operation of the law, which is making our system so difficult,” he said.
He said the National Department of Health was working with the Department of Personnel Management to return recruitment powers to PHA chief executive officers to allow them to advertise and recruit staff into approved positions without unnecessary delays.
Morobe Provincial Health Authority chief executive officer Dr Kipas Binga said the shortage of staff was placing enormous pressure on Angau hospital, where patient numbers continued to exceed available resources.
“The demand for healthcare services continues to exceed our capacity,” Binga said.
He said the hospital was facing shortages of both healthcare workers and bed space, forcing some patients to sleep on mattresses on the floor while receiving treatment.
“People complain about patients sleeping on the floor, but our doctors and nurses are still attending to them and providing the medicines they need.
“We would rather treat them here than have them stay at home without medical care,” he said.
Binga said Angau served not only Morobe, but also patients referred from the Momase and Highlands regions and other parts of the country.
He revealed that 240 approved positions remained vacant and said management was reviewing its staffing structure to strengthen critical units such as the emergency department and labour ward while continuing efforts to improve healthcare services despite growing demand.
