Days after musician Patience Namadingo’s plan to repair ambulances was stifled by Mangochi council’s red tape, the Medical Council of Malawi (MCM) has found the district’s Office of the Director of Health Services (DHS) guilty of negligence and ordered it to take immediate measures to improve the availability of ambulances in the district.
MCM has found the Mangochi DHS office guilty of failing to provide ambulance services to a patient referred for further treatment, which led to his death. The MCM’s finding comes after Namadingo had volunteered to repair the district’s grounded ambulances, but was met with bureaucratic resistance from the Mangochi council.
The council had insisted that Namadingo follow formal procedures and submit a proposal, which forced the musician to navigate the school block project at Wataka Primary School in Machinga District, a maze of procedures.
The MCM has slammed the DHS office for its negligence, ordering it to pay 30% of the investigation cost and take concrete measures to improve ambulance availability. “The facility proprietor must take measures to improve the availability of ambulances. Refer the case to the Nurses and Midwives Council of Malawi,” the MCM directed.
MCM has also suspended two medical practitioners and fined five others for egregious violations of medical ethics. Pearson Mlendo, a clinical officer at Mpemba Health Centre, was suspended for one year for treating a patient in his bedroom under questionable circumstances.
Henry Mvura, an anaesthetist at Mulanje Mission Hospital, received a two-year suspension for delayed provision of anaesthesia services, resulting in delayed critical care for a patient requiring an emergency Caesarean section.
