A FRUSTRATED member of the public says the main switch board at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) should be manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The concern came following reports claiming that operators at the main switch are absent from their desk or just won’t to answer the calls.
A member of the public speaking to the paper over the weekend said there are times when the main hospital number 23600 is not being manned by anyone.
“This is because when we try calling the number there seems to be no answer.
“You would be lucky to have someone answering the phone,” the disappointed Honiara resident who wished to be called Rolle’e Volo said.
Mr Volo said it was really frustrating when someone tried to call the wards or their relatives at the hospital but the operators are not answering the calls.
He said its important that someone must be present at the switch most of the time because sometimes these calls are for emergency reasons from members of the public.
When contacted, a medical officer at the hospital also acknowledged the sentiments expressed by the concern man.
The medical officer who also declined to be named said it’s a concern because they have received a lot of concern about the service.
The officer said even the nurses are also finding it hard to call the doctors or nurses when the operators are not answering the calls.
He explained that at the hospital, nurses and doctors have to call the switch board if they want to make a call to a mobile or an outside line.
“But if the operators are not answering us we cannot call to the doctors. So sometimes it slows down emergency work that needs to be done at the hospital,” the medical officer.
The officer agrees that the hospital management should address the situation because it’s a long time problem.
Meanwhile Mr Volo said in a big hospital like this, operators must be present 24 hours, seven days a week because of the importance of such service.
“At least theres someone manning the switch board every minute to answer the calls, so that the service can flow without much delay,” Mr Volo said.
