The hospital consists of several clinical departments. Here is information about some of them.
Reception
What happens here?
When patients arrive at Haydom, they either go to the reception or to the OPD. The most serious cases from the OPD are also sent to the reception. In the reception the patients are given a medical examination before they are admitted and transferred to the specific clinical departments.
How many people work here?
Varies from time to time, but at least 5 people.
What are the biggest challenges?
The staff in the reception often has challenges when it comes to communicating with the new patients. Many of the people who come to the hospital only speak local tribe languages. Also many of the patients have problems paying the 500 Tsh it takes to be examined in the reception and the 20 000 Tsh fee to be admitted.
Surgical Department
What happens here?
The surgical department is divided between Surgical 1 (general ward) and Surgical 2. All patients with fractures are admitted to Surgical 2 for pre- and post-operative care. Other patients in need of surgery are admitted to the general ward. Trauma and cancer patients are also admitted here.
What are the most common conditions?
Surgical 1: BPH, Trauma, Intestinal obstruction, UTI, Burns, Abscess, Osteomyelitis, Tumour, Hernia, Appendicitis.
Surgical 2: Various fractures, often injuries from traffic. Gangrene.
How many people work here?
Surgical 1: 18 nurse assistants, 14 attendants, 6 caretakers, 1 doctor, 1 intern.
Surgical 2: 11 nurses, 9 attendants, 1 caretaker, 1 doctor, 1 MD.
Capacity: In 2010, 2191 major and 1779 minor operations were performed at the hospital.
Surgical 1: 54 beds.
Surgical 2: 50 beds.
What are the biggest challenges?
Small staff compared to the number of patients.
Paediatric Department
What happens here?
The paediatric department of HLH is called Lena Ward, this is where the children are admitted.
What are the most common conditions?
Malnutrition, Pneumonia, Fractures, Malaria, Burns, TB, Gasintrointestinal.
How many people work here?
16 nurses. The number of doctors varies from time to time, usually there are about 3 doctors working at Lena Ward.
Capacity: 80 beds.
What are the biggest challenges?
The paediatric department has a large number of patients. Compared to the number of patients there are too few people working.
HIV/Aids Clinic
What happens here?
Patients are not admitted to the HIV/Aids clinic, they come here to get the diagnosis, consultation, observation, registration and free medicine. If the patients are very sick, they are admitted to another ward for treatment. The clinic also arranges large informational meetings to increase the knowledge about HIV and Aids.
How many people work here?
2 clinical officers, 2 attendants, 3 nurses.
Capacity: The clinic receives 30 – 50 people a day.
What are the biggest challenges?
The staff at the HIV/Aids clinic faces a lot of problems when it comes to the patient consultations. Many of the patients are angry, frustrated and won’t accept their diagnosis. The clinic also has problems funding the informational meetings.
People in many regions of Tanzania have a lack of knowledge about HIV and Aids. This makes the treatment of the disease more difficult. Many patients refuse to listen to advice from the clinic because they believe in alternative treatment. One example of such treatment is the Loliondo-cure. This cure has caused a lot of troubles for hospitals in Tanzania and has been given massive attention all over Africa. It is said to cure all incurable diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, ulcers, etc.
Diabetes Clinic
What happens here?
Patients with symptoms of diabetes go to the Diabetes Clinic to get the final diagnosis. Here they consultation, treatment and medication for both type 1 and type 2.
What are the most common conditions?
The number of patients coming to the clinic with diabetes type 1 and type 2 is almost the same. About 50 % have diabetes type 1 and about 50 % have diabetes type 2. �
How many people work here?
1 nurse and 1 medical attendant.
Capacity: The clinic receives about 5 to 10 patients a day.
What are the biggest challenges?
The main challenge is too few people working with too many patients. The economic situation is also a problem, both for the clinic and the patients. The clinic doesn’t have enough money for treating all the patients. And the patients can’t afford the medication and the food that is right for their diets. Another problem is the lack of knowledge about diabetes among the Tanzanian people.
Maternity and Gynecology
What happens here?
Gynaecological treatment and all treatment of pregnant women; labour, premature, ante-natal and post-natal.
What are the most common conditions?
PAD, miscarriage (spontaneous abortion), induced abortion, various pregnancy complications, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.
How many people work here?
29 nurses, 2-3 attendants. The number of doctors varies from time to time, but usually there is 1 doctor and a few interns.
Capacity: 4 beds in the labour department. There are about 10 to15 births every day. In 2010 there were 5068 deliveries at the hospital.
What are the biggest challenges?
The capacity isn’t big enough. There are too few beds to treat all the patients and too few staff members. Even right after giving birth the women have to share beds.
Dental Clinic
Haydom has a fully equiped dental clinic.
What happens here?
When patients with teeth problems come to the OPD or another ward, they are given an appointment at the dental clinic. Here they get an examination and x-ray and medication if necessary.
What are the most common conditions?
The people who come to the clinic generally have very bad teeth. At the clinic they see a lot of caries and rotten teeth, many patients have various inflammations and are in need of antibiotics.
How many people work here?
2 medical attendants, no dentist works here permanently. From time to time we have volunteers dentists from Europe.
What are the biggest challenges?
The dental clinic is in lack of qualified staff. There are no dentists, doctors or clinical officers available. If there are dentists at the dental clinic they are usually volunteers and stay for only a short period of time. The clinic also has problems when it comes to helping the patients as a lot of them have extremely bad teeth.
Physiotherapy
What happens here?
The physiotherapy department treats patients upon requests from doctors at the different wards. They help patients from all departments. The patients either come to the physiotherapy department, or the staff members from the physiotherapy department visit the patients at the ward where they are admitted. Because this is one of few physiotherapy departments in a very large area, patients also come to the department from other hospitals. The physiotherapists help patients with gymnastics, rehabilitation, breathing exercises, preventing muscle contractures and starting to move again after lying still for a long time.
What are the most common conditions?
The physiotherapy department treat people with various problems. A large number of patients have undergone surgery for fractures at Surgical 2 and need exercise in order to rehabilitate. Elders, patients from the Old Ward, stroke patients and patients from the maternity ward are also common.
How many people work here?
3 physiotherapists and 1 nurse.
What are the biggest challenges?
The department needs more modern equipment for exercising. A part from this, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of knowledge about physiotherapy among the doctors on the other wards. Many of the doctors don’t know what the physiotherapists are capable of. If they did, many more patients could be helped. Another challenge is that the patients start physiotherapy too late. If they had come to the hospital earlier, or if the doctor had requested physiotherapy treatment before, much more could be done to help the patients.
Internal Medicine
What happens here?
Medical cases without need of surgery are admitted to the Old Ward for treatment. This is one of the biggest wards of the hospital.
What are the most common conditions?
Heart failure, Dysentery, Malaria, Amebiasis, HIV, Diabetes.
How many people work here?
35 including nurses, attendants, medical officers and doctors.
Capacity: 56 beds, however one bed often holds more than one patient.
What are the biggest challenges?
Lack of equipment and medicines, e.g. the CT machine is broken. With help from volunteers and interns there are enough people working at the Old Ward, but when they are not around there are too few staff members. Another big challenge is the electricity. Several times a day the power shuts down and the hospital has to run without electricity. This is a big problem for the Old Ward.
Outreach
What happens here?
The outreach department goes out of the hospital and sets up small clinics. They go to about 27 different locations. The outreach department of Haydom covers a very large area. Some of the locations are outside of the Manyara region and have to be reached by plane. On the outreaches children are weighed, registered, vaccinated and given vitamins. The pregnant women are registered and examined. The clinic also offers free HIV tests and educate people in health and more.
How many people work here?
About 30 nurses.
What are the biggest challenges?
The hospital receives the vaccines from the government. One of the biggest problems of the outreach department is that they receive too few of these important vaccines. The vaccination is a free opportunity for children in Tanzania, but due to the lack of vaccines not everyone is vaccinated in time.
Out Patient Department (OPD)
What happens here?
Outpatients from Haydom village and the area around the hospital come to the OPD to be examined, receive medicine and treatment. The most serious cases are referred to the reception for further treatment at the hospital. The eye clinic, dental clinic and physiotherapy are also parts of the OPD.
How many people work here?
2 doctors and a various number of nurses.
What are the most common conditions?
Malaria, Typhoid fever, TB, Gastroenteritis, Pneumonia and Meningitis.
Capacity: The OPD receives about 200-300 patients a day. In 2010 the number of outpatients was 52 330 (100-200 patients per day).
What are the biggest challenges?
Too few employees.
Psychiatry
What happens here?
The psychiatry department treats both inpatients and outpatients. The department is divided into three: treatment of outpatients, treatment of inpatients (from the other wards) and Amani Ward were patients suffering from serious substance abuse are admitted for detox and rehabilitation.
What are the most common conditions?
Substance abuse, most commonly alcohol, marihuana and heroin (and some cocaine). The most common mental illnesses are depression and schizophrenia. A large number of patients do also suffer from epilepsy, which in Tanzania is treated as a mental disease. In the outpatient clinic 85-90% of the ones coming for treatment suffer from epilepsy. They come here once a month to get free medications and check-up.
How many people work here?
6 medical attendants and 4 nurses.
Capacity: There are 16 beds at the Amani Ward, but there is room for more. Nine of the beds are for men. Usually five to seven men are admitted per month, and one to two women are admitted each year. In one moth between 250 and 400 outpatients visit the psychiatry department.
What are the biggest challenges?
Too few people working and lack of qualified staff; there are no psychiatrists or doctors working at the psychiatry department. Despite the lack of doctors, the staff includes some psychiatric nurses which does a good job at the department. Another challenge is the lack of knowledge about substance abuse among the people. Also many people suffering from substance abuse, especially women, refuse to come to the hospital for treatment.