Port Moresby General Hospital only for referral

THE director for medical services at the Port Moresby General Hospital has urged the public to go to urban clinics before resorting to the hospital where long queues remained. 
The director, Dr David Mokela, said this after receiving complaints from patients regarding treatment received from doctors at the emergency section.
He said due to shortages of doctors, patients were screened and treated based on the severity of their cases. The most serious cases were given priority.
“There is roughly one doctor who is likely to attend to 20 patients here at the hospital, therefore we try to treat patients according to the seriousness,” he said.
He urged the public to go to the nearest urban clinic first for minor cases to get treatment before turning up to the hospital.
“Doctors there are doing their best with the limited resources available and sometimes patients get frustrated when they are not being attended to.”
The major problem faced today in relation to the shortage of doctors, he said, happened when they did not inform the person in charge before leaving the hospital and that issue had been raised with the board. 
He said doctors believed to be acting inappropriately should be reported to him so that they could be dealt with.
Port Moresby is a referral hospital for the southern region and will always be full.