UTH IN BED CRISIS
…Males, females share same ward as UTH bed crisis ,
By Mast Reporter
ZAMBIA’S largest referral hospital, the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) Adult Hospital, has run out of bed space for new admissions for both male and female wards, The Mast investigations have revealed.
Patients are now being admitted to waiting benches and chairs as they wait for other patients to be discharged from wards.
In an interview with The Mast yesterday, UTH Adult Hospital public relations officer Mwiza Mwiya said the institution had been forced to temporarily accommodate male and female patients in the same ward.
“Management wishes to clarify that this arrangement is not the norm but an interim measure taken only under exceptional circumstances when all male wards are fully occupied,” Mwiya said.
She said the hospital had recorded a sharp increase in the number of male surgical patients, increasing the demand for bed space for new admissions.
“…many of whom are victims of road traffic accidents, those who fall from construction sites and prostate-related conditions. These cases often require longer hospital stays, resulting in higher bed occupancy in male wards compared to female wards,” she said.
Mwiya said the situation had forced the hospital to accommodate male patients in female wards to ensure that no patient was turned away as a temporary measure.
She said it was a rare case to accommodate male patients in separate cubicles within female wards.
Mwiya said the admissions were done with utmost sensitivity, maintaining full privacy, separate sanitary access and continuous supervision by medical staff.
“It is important to emphasise that this is a temporary and controlled measure aimed at preserving life and ensuring continued access to healthcare for all,” she said.
Mwiya said as soon as bed space became available in male-designated wards, the affected patients would be relocated.
A reporter who went to investigate complaints by some members of the public found some of the patients who had been admitted lying on benches while others were spending nights in chairs.
He also found that male and female patients were being kept in one ward but in separate cubicles.
