By FRANCINA PHIRI –
THE Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) has condemned Chilenje First Level Hospital for denying an accident victim access to medical services before he could obtain a Police report.
An unknown person who was pushing a car was hit by a drunken driver and was later rushed to Chilenje First Level Hospital by members of the public where he was denied medical attention as he did not have a police report.
The incident happened last Saturday, March 24, 2018 around 22:00hours.
ZMA secretary general Francis Mupeta said that there was no law in Zambia that required a police report before a health worker could provide medical attention to a patient.
Dr Mupeta said in a case of emergencies, medical doctors on duty were required to offer emergency treatment to affected victims at all times.
He said that the Association would protect any member who was upholding the principals of good medical practices in cases of emergency.
Dr Mupeta said that the ministry of Health and the Health Profession Council of Zambia (HPCZ) should formulate guidelines on reporting systems.
“A medical provider is not mandated to force the victim or patient to obtain a police medical report form before attending to them,” he said.
Dr Mupeta said members of the public should report any medical staff denying medical services to the victims of trauma without medical report form to regulatory authorities such as HPCZ.
He said that the authority had instituted investigations on the involvement of medical doctors in the incident and that if anyone would be found wanting, appropriate measures would be taken.