Accidents stress referral hospitals

The country’s main referral hospitals, Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Qech) are registering increased road traffic accident (RTA) cases, with motorcycles and bicycles at the centre of the crisis.

Data issued by Qech director Dr Samson Mndolo, in a written response yesterday, shows that the hospital has treated 9 008 patients in its Adult Emergency and Trauma Centre in the past three months.

The statistics indicate that in May, the Blantyre-based referral treated 3 025 patients, in June there was a drop as 2 965 people were treated assistance, only for the figure to rise again in July, when  3 018 cases were registered.

Said Mndolo: “Common RTAs serious injuries [are] head, chest and abdominal, long bone fractures. Young males are commonly injured, 20 percent [of those patients are] seriously injured and require critical care.” 

He said the accidents are stressing the facility as “victims require a lot of resources to be treated as they normally stay in hospital for a long time. He added that they are more likely to undergo multiple surgeries.

In a statement issued yesterday and signed by its director Jonathan Ngoma, KCH also expressed concern over the increasing number of road accidents.

It has based its analysis on data sourced between January and December last year which indicates that 2 122 accident victims sought medical assistance at the facility.

Of those, 3 106, representing 62 percent, suffered injuries due to motorcycle accidents and 816 involving bicycles.

The statement said 1 457 of the victims were treated as outpatients, 31 were brought in dead, 12 died in the hospital’s casualty facility while 622 were admitted.

“These accidents have put a lot of strain on the hospital which is already challenged with space and resources,” Ngoma said.

National Police deputy spokesperson Harry Namwaza said motorcycle accidents were contributing to rising accident cases in the country.

He said in the first quarter of this year, they recorded 214 accidents involving motorcycles which claimed 25 lives.

Namwaza said police fail to enforce the law against the operators as most of them operate in areas where traffic officials are not available.

“Most of them do not have licences. In cases where there are traffic officers, they use uncharted routes where they can easily maneuver,” he said.