Transcript
DAVID VORST: Yes they are and I think that's in part due to the media coverage that we did get of this problem and certainly the chief secretary has been in the news saying that they acknowledge that there is a problem and the Secretary of Health is now working hard with his team to alleviate it and drugs have started to flow into the hospital. In fact, I've just come out of a meeting where there also talking about starting to restock some of the rural units because they're also out of stock. So while we've got a long way to go, there is certainly a flow of drugs coming into the hospital and we're hoping that in two to three weeks we would have at least our base stock back in the pharmacy.
JAMIE TAHANA: So what's coming in and what are you still needing to get back to that basic service?
DV: Well we've got a list of drugs which we need to have to do all things that we need to do as a level 6 hospital and that's the same for the rural facilities, the three district hospitals, they also have one in the sense that there's a minimum stock level of different types of drugs and antibiotics, IV fluids, bandages and dressings and all those sorts of things that one would expect to find normally in a hospital.
JT: And are you getting adequate quantities or is it looking like you will get adequate quantities because I remember last week you were only getting about 10 percent of what was requested if you got it at all.
DV: Well what we've done is we've gone into the marketplace and we've spent somewhere around 300,000 kina (US$94,000) to get our basic stock. That's being supplemented now by the area medical store which is the government systems. So yeah, we're pretty confident that our basic stocks will be in place and we'll be able to provide a good service back to the public.
JT: Have you heard from the Department of Health or the government over their mixups in the past week or so or has this been kind of a situation that's played out in the media and now suddenly things are coming back?
DV: Well to be honest it's a situation that's been played out in the media. We've made any number of attempts to elicit a response from the NDOH but it's very difficult, so it has been a very difficult issue not only for Mt Hagen, but for most hospitals in the country. This issue of not only drugs but medical consumables and also equipment has just been a chronic problem. And very difficult for clinicians who, you know, are on the front line. The doctors and nurses having to deal with the public who have expectations about what they could receive when they come to hospital and those expectations, by and large, are real.
JT: You're getting your drugs now, the current crisis is easing but is there any sign of a long term fix?
DV: Well certainly the National Department of Health is saying that they need to address this - get tenders in place or contracts in place with reliable suppliers and so forth. But, you know, some of us that have been around a little while are starting to become a little bit cynical about these comments. You know, we'll believe it when we see it.
