Members of Parliament have expressed concern over the high consultation fees charged at The Luke Commission (TLC), despite the health facility receiving an E50 million government subvention.
Lugongolweni Member of Parliament Joseph Souza was among the legislators who raised the issue, saying it had come to his attention that patients were being charged high fees to access medical care even though the facility receives government funding.
Mhlume MP Sifiso Magagula said he had personally sought medical treatment at the facility and paid the high consultation fees. He questioned whether it was worthwhile for government to continue allocating a subvention to the health facility if it was charging fees that ordinary Emaswati could not afford.
Matsanjeni South MP Sabelo Ndlangamandla submitted that all funds appropriated by Parliament should benefit the nation and provide value for money.
He said, in addition to the E50 million subvention, TLC also received medication from the Central Medical Stores, whose value, according to an investigation he conducted, exceeded the subvention.
He claimed that a patient was recently asked to pay E25 000 for an operation after being bitten by a snake.
Ndlangamandla said TLC had long been regarded as a preferred health facility because it provided services that were not available at most public hospitals and clinics. He said nothing should take away from the good work the facility had done.
He said many Emaswati still believed the hospital offered some of the best healthcare in the country. However, he said the concern was the high fees, adding that patients were often not informed of the costs until after receiving treatment.
“We are carrying the financial burden as MPs because the patients turn to us and ask us to pay their medical bills,” he said.
The legislator said one patient allegedly spent one night at the facility and was charged E5 900 upon discharge.
Ndlangamandla challenged the Minister of Health to investigate the matter, saying it was possible that the E50 million subvention was not enough to cover TLC’s operational costs, resulting in the high fees.
He said that if TLC was operating like a private hospital, government should consider reviewing the subvention allocated to the facility.
Meanwhile, Ndlangamandla said people were dying from snakebites because they had to travel long distances to reach the nearest hospital, with some walking more than 50km.
He said some constituencies had health facilities nearby, but this was not the case in many rural areas, particularly in the Lubombo region. He questioned the criteria used by government when approving the construction of health facilities.
There was also concern that the government subvention allocated to Good Shepherd Hospital was being used to support operations at its tertiary institution, which legislators said placed an additional burden on government.
Kubuta MP Masiphula Mamba asked the minister whether the E50 million allocated to TLC had actually been released, suggesting that the funding might not have reached the facility, resulting in the high fees.
Souza also submitted that the minister had previously announced in Parliament that a renal unit would be established at Good Shepherd Hospital and that personnel had already been trained to work there.
He said the unit had still not been commissioned, despite kidney disease being one of the country’s major health concerns.
The legislator said the renal equipment purchased for the unit had not been delivered to Good Shepherd Hospital and that he had established it was lying idle at the referral hospital in Siteki.
Souza said commitments made in Parliament should be implemented, adding that failure to do so amounted to contempt unless the minister updated Parliament on the status of the project.
This was raised during the Portfolio Committee debate on the ministry’s first-quarter performance report in Parliament yesterday.
