MESSINA – The Messina hospital has spent two years operating without medical doctors and the health system in the hospital is reportedly collapsing.

The Council of Churches in the Limpopo (LCC) has been involved in the situation and is talking to the responsible authorities, said Rev Lesiba Matsaung of the LCC.

Since the deteriorating health of Dr Chola in 2001, no serious attention has been given to the hospital services and after his death more than a month ago, the hospital has had no state doctors, he said.

The arrangement that was made with private doctors who have their own practices outside is not workable. Patients are treated by nurses more than three times and ultimately sent home because there are no doctors available. A doctor is called only for seriously ill patients and emergencies.

According to Matsaung, it sometimes takes an hour before the doctor can respond due to commitments in his/her own surgery. Sometimes nurses are forced to take risky decisions, which were supposed to be taken by the doctors.

It is stated that it is now almost three years that the hospital's mortuary has had no attendant and according to Matsaung both the clinic and hospital are running dangerously short of medicine.

The spokesperson for the Department of Health in the Area, Mr Aluwani Netsianda, said the Department has already deployed a doctor from Tshilidzini Hospital to restore the image of health at Messina. Despite that, the posts have been advertised whereby suitable applicants will supply full health facilities.

It was also stated that two doctors, one from Zimbabwe and another one from Malamulele will start medical services at the beginning of July this year.