Queen Elizabeth Central Hosiptal Background
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) is situated in Blantyre city, the commercial capital of Malawi. The Hospital is the oldest and largest government-owned tertiary facility in terms of OPD attendance, hospital admissions, and number of specialist services. QECH was opened on 12 July 1957 with an initial bed capacity of 400. Then it was basically a curative - oriented facility.
About Us
BACKGROUND
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) is situated in Blantyre city, the commercial capital of Malawi. The Hospital is the oldest and largest government-owned tertiary facility in terms of OPD attendance, hospital admissions, and number of specialist services. QECH was opened on 12 July 1957 with an initial bed capacity of 400. Then it was basically a curative - oriented facility. After Independence in 1964, major extensions were undertaken in priority areas, starting with leprosy and dermatology. In 1980, Gogo Chatinkha wing was constructed. This wing specializes in Maternal and Child Health Services, both in-patient and out-patient.
With the construction of the Lions Eye Wing, the new Kangaroo ward, the Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and Audiology Clinic, Mercy James Centre (MJC), and the establishment of other specialised departments such as Neurosurgery, Oncology, Adult and Trauma Centre, coupled with an increase in the population and number of other medical departments and special care services, the hospital now has a bed capacity of 1350.
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital provides tertiary services for the entire population of the Southern Malawi which is projected at 7,922,339 (Malawi Population and Housing Census Report 2018)).
With the construction of the Lions Eye Wing, the new Kangaroo ward, the Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and Audiology Clinic, Mercy James Centre (MJC), and the establishment of other specialised departments such as Neurosurgery, Oncology, Adult and Trauma Centre, coupled with an increase in the population and number of other medical departments and special care services, the hospital now has a bed capacity of 1350.
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital provides tertiary services for the entire population of the Southern Malawi which is projected at 7,922,339 (Malawi Population and Housing Census Report 2018)).
As a tertiary hospital, it provides a wide range of services such as specialist clinical care, teaching hospital for students from Kamuzu University and Health Sciences (KUHeS), Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN), Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), Catholic University and Malawi (CU) College of Health Sciences and some Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM) Nursing Colleges; Research and Support to District hospitals. However, due to the absence of a public secondary health institution in Blantyre, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital provides primary, secondary and tertiary level services as well. This scenario has put enormous pressure on the workload of QECH. The hospital has a total of 1,503 members of staff on government payroll.
As a largest referral health facility in Malawi, QECH has advanced specialist care centres in the areas of Obstetrics / Gynaecology, Oncology, Neurosurgery, Pathology and General Surgery. Hospital management will make decisions regarding major structural parameters such as hospital service configuration and number of services to be offered. And in the next five years the referral facility envisions to:
- Establish a Cardiology Centre for both children and adults for open heart surgeries, first with children with valvular heart disease and later with adults.
- Conduct transplant surgery
Currently patients with conditions that QECH cannot operate on, proceed to India for operations. These mainly include:
- Children with valvular heart disease
- Adults with eye conditions such as posterior retinal detachment
- Cancer patients for radiotherapy.
The OPD department mainly is burdened with Blantyre City population. Blantyre City has an estimated population of 1,033,105 (Malawi Population and Housing Census Report 2018)). In 2018 alone, a total of 367,566 attendees were registered at OPD
For proper service delivery of healthcare, the hospital is divided into departments which have specific departmental goals and objectives to achieve. Basically these departments are Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Clinical, Nursing and Health Technical Support
For proper service delivery of healthcare, the hospital is divided into departments which have specific departmental goals and objectives to achieve. Basically these departments are Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Clinical, Nursing and Health Technical Support