Government currently owes various private hospitals about P415.5 million in medical bills. The debt comes from invoices that were submitted between August and up to date. Minister of Health, Dr Edwin Dikoloti revealed government’s IOUs when responding to a question in Parliament recently.

Elucidating more on the amount owed to private hospitals, Dikoloti disclosed that Bokamoso Private Hospital’s bill stands at P164.8 million followed by Sidilega Private Hospital at P88 million, and Gaborone Private Hospital with an amount of P62 million.

The other private hospitals that the government owes are Renal Care Institute with a P3.9 million bill, Riverside Hospital in Francistown one of its own at P54.7 million, and Francistown Academic Hospital’s invoice which stands at P42 million.

Dikoloti was responding to a question from Member of Parliament (MP) for Kanye North, Thapelo Letsholo who had asked government to clarify the amount owed to the private hospitals, articulate the name of the hospital owed, how much it is owed, how much was paid to each of the hospitals or facilities in the current year and the last financial year, and what was the criteria for the allocations.

Dikoloti also pointed out that the ministry refers patients who would have been assessed by doctors in public health facilities and deemed to require hospital admission and treatment provided the management required is not readily available within government facilities.

“Private facilities offering medical services usually apply for a permit to offer such services to the minister. They would then be inspected, and a permit is given if they satisfy the requirements. The next stage would be to negotiate tariffs if the services we require are offered by the facility.

I wish to emphasise that the Ministry of Health refers patients to a particular private health facility because there is a specialist who is known to possess the required skill to manage a particular patient and can offer the service within a reasonable time,” he further clarified. Dikoloti also said patients are referred to private health facilities for services that are not available at government hospitals.

He said the choice of which hospital the patient is sent to depends on the availability of services required because some services like Radiation and Oncology are available at certain hospitals only. He said the ministry does not allocate a budget to any private hospital rather it pays for the services rendered by each facility. “The ministry does not have any invoices that have been sitting at the ministry for over one or more years.

The Ministry of Health has been having a relationship with the local private hospitals for a long period as these hospitals started operating at different times.

The latest addition was Sidilega Private Hospital in 2019 and Francistown Academic Hospital also in 2020. The ministry enjoys a cordial relationship with the hospitals as its stakeholders and there is frequent engagement by both parties,” he emphasised.