By Emma Black

Health workers at Bo government hospital have raised serious concerns over the lack of basic medical equipment and supplies, which they say is severely undermining their ability to provide effective healthcare services to patients, on Monday 2 June 2025 speaking to Expo Times Newspaper on condition of anonymity, several hospital staff revealed that essential items such as blood pressure (BP) machines, thermometers, gloves, hand sanitizers, and even basic hygiene materials like soap are in critically short supply.

Most of the times we have to move from ward to ward just to borrow a BP machine, one worker said, gloves and infection prevention materials are extremely limited, this puts not only us at risk but also our families, we are highly vulnerable to infections, the situation is compounded by infrastructural challenges, the hospital, which serves a large portion of the southern region, is reportedly struggling with an inconsistent supply of water and electricity.

Some wards rely on solar power, while others are connected to the national grid, which is very unreliable, another staff member explained, there are times when we have to use the flashlights from our mobile phones to care for patients, is this the standard of healthcare the authorities expect us to provide, adding to their frustration, health workers said they often face verbal abuse from frustrated patients who wrongly accuse them of hoarding or selling medical supplies like gloves.

We are accused of selling gloves when the reality is we don’t even have enough for ourselves,” one nurse lamented, we are committed to our jobs, but how do we work when we lack even the most basic tools, these revelations come at a critical time, as Sierra Leone grapples with an outbreak of Mpox (Monkeypox), the public in Bo is beginning to voice growing concern about the hospital’s capacity to respond effectively to the disease.

The country is facing a public health emergency, said a Bo resident, if our main referral hospital is this ill-equipped, how are we supposed to stay safe

reached out to the Secretary of Bo government hospital, Edward Belmon, for comment regarding these allegations, however, he declined to respond, as the Mpox outbreak continues to spread, calls are intensifying for the ministry of health and Sanitation to take immediate action to address the systemic deficiencies at Bo government hospital and restore public confidence in the healthcare system.

Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on Wednesday, June 4TH, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)