Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has been caught up in a tender scam where it was procuring goods and services above its approved threshold without going through the State Procurement Board.In a 2012 report, Comptroller and Auditor-General Ms Mildred Chiri said Parirenyatwa bought pharmaceutical goods above its US$50 000 limit.
It was also noted that the hospital lost much revenue because there were no charge sheets on patients’ notes.
Ms Chiri said the procurement committee unprocedurally awarded an US$87 000 tender to New Arakash for pharmaceutical materials.
“The hospital procurement committee awarded a tender of US$104 592 on August 17 2011 which was above the set limit of US$50 000.
“The tender was awarded to Frog Cable for the supply of PVC cable.
“The risk is that the hospital may not have obtained value for money,” she added.
In its response to inquiries by Ms Chiri on the irregularities, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals said they conducted a special formal tender for supply of the cable among companies on the SPB approved list of suppliers.
This, the hospital said, followed a blackout which affected areas in Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Home including the pre-term nursery, which is highly dependant on electricity.
“Noted and agreed . . . We kindly take note of your recommendation to consult SPB on such purchases in future,” said the hospital.
The Auditor-General also said, “At the time of audit in April 2012, there was no mechanism in place to pick patients not charged as there were no charge sheets attached on most of the patients’ notes.
“For patients with charge sheets some were blank whilst others were not properly done. This was observed in Wards B8, B7, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7 and C8.”
This means the group might be losing revenue by giving services but not charging for them.
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals said it had since instructed the principal nursing officer to strengthen and monitor use of charge sheets in wards.
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