By MUNAMBEZA MUWANEI –

THE X-ray machine at the Ndola Central Hospital (NCH), the country’s second largest hospital, has malfunctioned, forcing patients to get the service from the Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital (ADCH) and private hospitals.
The Sunday Times found some of the patients from NCH queuing up at the ADCH to have their X-rays done and described the situation as cumbersome as they had to cover more than four kilometres to get the service.
NCH public relations officer Sheona Chalimbana said the apparatus had not been working for more than a week but would soon be worked on.
Ms Chalimbana said patients requiring having the X-ray taken were being referred to ADCH which had functional equipment.
Having an X-ray taken at ADCH is K50, while at NCH under low cost is K10.
She said the X-ray machine was radiating some films and the hospital had since called experts from Philips in Lusaka who were expected to check the equipment.
“The X-ray machine hasn’t been working for more than a week now, it was radiating some films but experts were expected to be here this week,” she said.
Some patients also complained that the CD4 count testing kit was not functioning and that they had been told by the hospital to do the tests elsewhere.
But Ms Chalimbana said the CD4 count testing kit was working and that the tests were done in the morning and patients requiring such services were advised to visit the hospital early enough.
Meanwhile, some members of the public have of late complained at the poor attitude they are being subjected to by hospital staff.
But Ms Chalimbana advised the members of the public to utilise the suggestion boxes that the hospital had put in place to address their concerns.
She said the hospital had embarked on a number of programmes to address attitude problems by its members of staff.
“We are trying to address some of the concerns raised, it’s not just the nurses but even the cleaners,” she said.