Buea regional hospital: kidney patients threaten to carryout strike action

Kidney patients in Buea have threatened to embark on a strike action at the Buea regional hospital. This they say is due to the poor services and treatment they get.

“I missed my dialysis last Saturday.Since then I have had immense medical complications.The situation will get worst if I get to the hospital tomorrow when the situation has not been handled yet” a kidney patient told Mimi Mefo Info on the basis of anonymity.

To another patient, just one out of the ten haemodialysis machines in the facility has been functioning properly for the past weeks. To these patients, Dr. Teuwafou Denis who is in charge of the dialysis centre has sent out messages to kidney patients to seek medical attention in centres in Yaounde and Ebolowa, an accusation the medical doctor has said is false and unfounded.

In a telephone interview, he said “We have issues with some of our machines but I have not asked any patient to go elsewhere for dialysis.The situation at the Buea regional hospital has not reached that level” he said.
“The centre is still rendering services to kidney patients in Buea” he added.

At the moment, four out of ten dialysis machines are function according to a source at the hospital. Due to this, just twelve patients can be dialyzed on a daily basis as compared to over twenty four dialyzed when the ten machines are functioning properly.

The patients are equally pointing accusing fingers on the nurses working in the centre for taking advantage of the ugly situation to make money.
“The nurses collect bribe from wealthy patients just to permit them pass in the machine while poor ones constantly miss their appointments”.

Our source has confirmed that two dialysis machines offered to Buea Regional Hospital by militants of the Cameroon People Democratic Movement, CPDM based in the United States of America have never worked despite the need for them by patients. According to our source, the machines were bad when imported, reason why the donors denied that they be tested during a ceremony to hand over the gifts.

Some patients have questioned why a group of Cameroonians abroad will import and offer bad machines to the hospital just for political gains.

Mimi Mefo Info.