South Africa P.I.G.: SA HOSPITALS

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South Africa Falling Into Decay

By <a href="http://sarahmaidofalbion.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry.%20Mike%20Wilson">Mike Wilson</a> South Africa – the name conjures up visions of white colonialism, riches of diamonds and gold, beautiful cities, beautiful people, rich farmlands and technical innovation. A strong and vibrant country with a modern army and air force and an air of expectancy, handed down from Afrikaner father to son, that their land would be the greatest in the whole continent. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Gm7IzfqWos" width="640"></iframe> Well it does to me and this is what the country used to be like when I lived there 40 years ago. Johannesburg was a thriving metropolis of great buildings and the frenzied rush of people going about their affairs much like any other major city in the world. It was such a powerhouse of people, ideas and innovations and the strong Boer mentality over rode all. Today Johannesburg appears to be a run down shanty town with decrepit buildings, boarded up windows, filthy garbage riddled streets and squalor everywhere. What happened?   <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LW6lOdxqSUE" width="640"></iframe> The infamous pass laws were rescinded in the early 90’s and the black man took over the country. This utopia, this land of riches, this gemstone in the crown of the continent is now like so many other African nations, a struggling mix of different tribes coming to terms with life in the 21st century. Unfortunately for these black Africans, they have not been able to rise above tribal culture and are cursed with a background that has not reached the stage which would enable them to mentally grasp all the requirements that are needed to administer a complex and busy country. From being the underdog to being the dominant force today has created major schisms within the overall South African society. There is an ongoing payback mentality that encourages blacks to take from the whites in many different ways. In one way the houses of white people are regularly burgled and effects stolen. This is not done covertly and gangs of blacks regularly threaten households. In another way there is what is now called ‘Black Empowerment’ or BEE where blacks are given preference over whites for available jobs. This stupid practice gives the unskilled African peasant direct involvement in manning the infrastructure support that runs the country. As a consequence the major power supply company Eskom is unable to maintain its equipment as most of the trained skilled white staff are no longer employed. This has caused frequent power supply problems so that they had to rely on power shedding or in other words maintaining power to select parts of their industry rather than all consumers who need it. The current youth leader of the ANC, Julius Malema, keeps telling his followers to kill the Boer, one man one bullet. He has recently been found guilty of inciting racial hatred and fined 50,000 Rand for his troubles. Not that this has changed his tactic one iota and on a recent trip to Zimbabwe he went out of his way to repeat the phrase to all who would listen. Over 3,000 white farmers have been murdered since the ANC took over in a deliberate government policy to get whites to give up their land. From being a rich farming country under white rule South Africa now faces the prospect of importing food to feed the masses. Many whites claim that there is now a policy of genocide levelled against Boer farmers as a result of the ANC policy to grab land. This is the same process that started in Zimbabwe and will have the same result. On a recent trip to Zimbabwe there were talks between Mugabe and Malema on how to take over the remaining land still in the hands of white minorities. Now there is also talk of the mining industry which made SA very rich, being nationalised for the benefit of the black politicians. Law and order is a thing of the past now. There is no law of protection for whites and no laws for the blacks to abide by. Even Jacob Zuma the current leader of the ANC had a number of rape and corruption charges levelled against him by the then law and order anti- corruption team called the Scorpions. The ANC had an easy answer to all this, they simply disbanded the unit and the charges were dropped! In fact many of the black policemen supposedly upholding what little law and order is left, are themselves involved in burglarising, raping and armed robberies. The number of deaths of whites has been unrecorded although the litany of deaths occurs on a daily basis. Many people felt that with the advent of black rule and empowerment blacks and whites would be able to sit together and maintain a strong and prosperous country that would continue to be the envy of Sub Saharan Africa. Today the situation is so bad that the country is becoming another Zimbabwe and whites are powerless to stop it but can only look on in horror as their once great country crumbles about them. Due to the political process of giving to the black at the expense of the white there are now 450,000 white people living below the poverty line in shanty towns around the country. The majority of these people are from Afrikaans backgrounds who would normally be the underclass looking after fairly menial jobs, railway workers, cleaners etc. Since those jobs are now taken by blacks these unfortunate men, women and children have no recourse but to become part of the homeless generation, forgotten by more affluent whites as well as the black government. Even some soup kitchens that were set up by well minded individuals have been closed by bureaucrats who say that the whites must fend for themselves. It’s only the help from other whites that keeps these unfortunate people with some form of subsistence. White liberalism is to blame for the problems affecting South Africa and the fall of the white Governments pre 1994. The world saw a country with blacks being oppressed and demanded change for the betterment of the black population. Just like Rhodesia several years earlier. Today, who has benefited from these changes? Certainly not the blacks as the majority of them are now far worse off than ever they were under white rule. Again, the classic example is Zimbabwe under the megalomaniac Mugabe who has robbed his country blind whilst 98% of his followers still live in shantytowns without the benefits of modern civilisation and in abject poverty. Every one of the ruling politicians in South Africa lives a life of wealth and privilege, with the latest cars, biggest houses in the best suburbs etc., yet their followers are very much worse off than they were when the whites ruled the country. Apart from the trashing of cities which have become sleazy rubbish dumps the hospital services are almost non existent. It’s hard to accept that the country that pioneered the first heart transplant under Dr. Christian Barnard has now a run down medical service which once used to be the envy of the world. Everything about the country today smacks of total incompetence with inmates running the asylum for the rest of the inmates who just have no idea what is going on. <a href="http://elliotlakenews.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/eugene-terreblanche-last-interview/">The murder of Eugene Terreblanche</a> may be just the last nail in the coffin of apathy that has affected the white liberals in this broken country. Indeed, apathy is probably the correct word to describe how the rest of the world views this former nation. It just seems that the power brokers amongst civilised nations are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the continent to implode before they go back in perhaps 40 years time or so, and pick up the pieces once more. Although by that time the Chinese will have probably got in first and blacks will have a far stronger, stricter and nastier overseer than the whites ever were.

South Africa Falling Into Decay

By Mike Wilson S outh Africa – the name conjures up visions of white colonialism, riches of diamonds and gold, beautiful cities, beautiful...

8:05 AM

Strengthening the weak by weakening the strong

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SLnl_4p-90ezFD-DV8p_MXzZ7JDI3JS5IVv0e0JLSHjiBz1tkF9MqVNwbEW6_qUqHXvsjsdvU12lXalecxgQdy8eFIm34eNw83bXDyBTovE6-GCLhDpVyyR1SBuvvzWaY8o7C8DVspA/s1600-h/rich_m16.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349536727933234082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SLnl_4p-90ezFD-DV8p_MXzZ7JDI3JS5IVv0e0JLSHjiBz1tkF9MqVNwbEW6_qUqHXvsjsdvU12lXalecxgQdy8eFIm34eNw83bXDyBTovE6-GCLhDpVyyR1SBuvvzWaY8o7C8DVspA/s320/rich_m16.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" /></a> Marco MacFarlaneThis week has seen the leakage of an internal African National Congress (ANC) discussion document outlining plans for a proposed national health insurance (NHI) scheme. Unfortunately the plan in its current state looks set to destroy private healthcare, and consequently cause a flight of skills from these shores that will cause untold damage to the economy. The details of the plan are sketchy, and most stem from a speech given to the Hospital Association of South Africa (Hasa) by Mr Alex van den Heever, a health economist. Some of the proposals said to be contained in the discussion document include a 5% tax on earnings of those who are not members of medical aid schemes. For those who already have medical aid, some 85% of their contributions would go directly to a newly- created national health insurance body. Finally, all services that could be provided by the public sector could not be insured under a private medical aid. Thus if public hospitals offered cancer treatment, individuals would not be able to have health insurance that covered cancer, and essentially would have no choice but to obtain treatment through the public system. If the choice is between public health care for a chronic disease, or emigration, many South African professionals will answer with their feet. Without a private health care system, it is doubtful whether South Africa can sustain a professional class. The public health sector is floundering, however, and years of bad planning and poor management have taken their toll on a once well-regarded public health system. In 2006, some 32% of all professional nursing posts in the public sector were vacant. By 2008 the proportion of vacant nursing posts had risen to 40%. In the Free State and the Eastern Cape, more than 50% of all public sector nursing posts stand vacant. The story is the same for doctors, as vacancies in the public sector rose from 30% in 2006 to 35% in 2008. In the Northern Cape, 60% of public sector doctors’ positions stood vacant in 2008. The situation has become so dire that public sector health professionals have now engaged in protracted (and illegal) strike action. It is an indictment of the Government that it has allowed the public health system to deteriorate to the point that it has. In light of this, it seems as if the Government is trying to deflect criticism of its poor management of the health sector on to the well-run private health system. The reasoning seems to run as follows: the public sector has been managed to the brink of collapse. The private sector continues to provide top-quality medical care, so much so that South Africa even receives a significant amount of ‘medical tourism’, with foreigners coming to these shores for the high-quality care they can expect in our private hospitals. Despite the fact that taxpayers fund the public health system in its entirety, and despite the fact that they also fund the private sector out of their own pockets, the private sector represents some sort of ‘threat’ to the public sector. The ANC Government has a long history of attacks on the private sector. We need only look back at the last few years to see evidence of a sustained campaign to weaken or perhaps even eradicate private healthcare. Doctors have been subjected to the (unimplemented) ‘certificate of need’ fiasco, which sought to put obstacles in the way of private practitioners when opening their practice in an area of their choice. Next the minister seized control of drug pricing. Then the dispensing fees of pharmacists were controlled to the point that smaller pharmacies could no longer turn a profit. When a private hospital group wants to build a hospital it needs permission from the minister. Somehow the question, “Why has the public health system collapsed?” is being answered with, “Because the private sector is too expensive”. It seems to have escaped the Government’s notice that the money spent on private health care is in addition to the money that taxpayers already spend on the public system. If the private sector did not exist, the public health care system would have the same resources it does now, but would have to take care of 20% more people than it currently does. Thus the hostility towards private health care seems not only misguided, but also lacking in logic. Although the plan at this stage is merely a discussion document, the very fact that such ideas could be entertained at all should cause uproar. Little noise is being made about it, however. There have been some timid comments from the private hospital groups and medical aid schemes. The public has been very quiet about it, possibly since public participation and comment on the process has thus far not been sought. Unions like the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) have stepped in and said that the NHI will ensure that, ‘the poor access free healthcare at the point of delivery whether they are employed or not’, ignoring the fact that this is already the case. The debate about health has been hijacked so that it has become about costs of private care, instead of the ever worsening quality of the public health care system. Before such policies are considered in future, the ANC would do well to heed the words of Abraham Lincoln: “You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”

Strengthening the weak by weakening the strong

Marco MacFarlane This week has seen the leakage of an internal African National Congress (ANC) discussion document outlining plans for a pr...

8:40 AM

SA hospital shocker

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwiA_eCQbxyA4L1GvjgDQ0Y9-D2h82566O8ARbwjOTL2EgoIt3Uj5D4IkHd_2XfWEb-Z25myx04TYRZGNh6uUqO7aZTkO07o7MBMztK4yALlRamSBpgo5E_J2HVlO4DP0FZW_YPuR5D1Y/s1600-h/hospital-bara-chris-hani.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346891553912681746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwiA_eCQbxyA4L1GvjgDQ0Y9-D2h82566O8ARbwjOTL2EgoIt3Uj5D4IkHd_2XfWEb-Z25myx04TYRZGNh6uUqO7aZTkO07o7MBMztK4yALlRamSBpgo5E_J2HVlO4DP0FZW_YPuR5D1Y/s320/hospital-bara-chris-hani.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" /></a> No pay, no cure – can our hospitals be salvaged? No drill, no operation. This was the scene facing a patient at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital recently. A “frustrated” orthopaedic surgeon at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, walked out of a hip-replacement surgery after he was told that the “vital drill” he needed for the op, was being held by unpaid repairers, according to an article in the May edition of the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ). Crumbling at the core The 3000-bed academic hospital in Soweto also hit the headlines when a 16-year-old boy died of suspected meningitis. The Gauteng Department of Health issued an official apology to the boy’s mother, who told reporters that doctors at the hospital had misdiagnosed her son four times and left him untreated for three days, before he was diagnosed. There was apparently no bed for the schoolboy in the hospital's intensive care unit for the three days he was in hospital. Evidence points to a healthcare system that is crumbling at the core. Overworked doctors have staged countrywide protests to demand fair pay and better working conditions. The Business Day newspaper reported that bus drivers were now earning more than junior doctors, who have to complete six years of study. The Health Professions Council of SA has issued more than 20 000 certificates of good standing to medical practitioners since April 2003. The majority of these certificates are requested by doctors applying for positions overseas. And now emergency workers in Gauteng – who provide essential services such as fire fighting – have joined the protest, after a delay in the implementation of a wage agreement. Equipment suppliers owed millions The incident at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital is merely a symptom of a very sick system. And while healthcare workers have been trying to plug the holes for a very long time, it is clear that the ship is sinking. Several of the hospital’s departments are operating at sub-optimal levels due to malfunctioning equipment, unpaid bills and fed-up suppliers, who have had enough of empty promises. The SAMJ article reports that one equipment supply and repair company is owed R140 million, with Chris Hani Baragwanath’s tally accounting for R8 million, unpaid for 18 months. The list of issues at the world’s largest hospital is endless: <ul> <li>The hospital’s neurology department went for 3 weeks with only one working CT scanner resulting in the withdrawal of vital services. At one stage in March, things got so bad that the only remaining CT scanner was being used “around the clock”. </li> <li>During the same period, mammography and gastrointestinal screening were cancelled. </li> <li>Equipment suppliers are threatening to remove vital components from equipment unless they are paid. </li> <li>Zeiss refuses to fix broken microscopes, due to non-payment. </li> <li>General Electric, who have an MRI suite in the radiology department, have not been paid. </li> <li>Several hospital theatres have faulty or unusable air conditioning and filtrations units because the manufacturers refuse to replace or repair them until they are paid. </li> <li>Hospital laundries and kitchens are in chaos due to unpaid bills and clumsy administration. </li></ul>Doctors’ dilemma A senior doctor reports that the situation is the worst it’s ever been. “The only reason we don’t have clear-cut deaths is because we always make a plan,” he says in the SAMJ article. Many doctors are afraid their willingness to “make a plan” for the sake of their patients may also land them in hot water with the Medical and Dental Professions Board, who handle professional conduct enquiries. Entangled in this nasty web of maladministration and financial woes sits the susceptible patient, too poor to seek private care and wholly dependent on the health services provided by the state. “It’s really sad for the patients. They get played as pawns in a game of inefficiency,” says another healthcare provider in the article. Doctors interviewed say the problem is not a shortage of money, but rather a “management problem”. The hospital’s head of surgery, Professor Martin Smith, says he has been forced to “beg” suppliers to repair equipment. Equipment suppliers, too, are engaged in a delicate balancing act – at risk of losing large government tenders if they cause a fuss, or facing near bankruptcy if they continue this way. What's new DOC In the meantime President Jacob Zuma told Parliament in his first state of the nation address that improving South Africa's health care system was a top priority for his government. "We are seriously concerned about the deterioration of the quality of health care, aggravated by the steady increase in the burden of disease in the past decade and a half." Zuma said the administration would enter into public-private partnerships to "rehabilitate public hospitals" so that the state could move to implement a National Health Insurance scheme.<a class="newshead" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1017534" target="_parent"> </a> The proposed introduction of a National Health Insurance scheme by government has already received much criticism, despite still being in its infancy. Some economists predict that taxpayers will need to fork out an additional 58% in tax each year to fund the NHI rollout, according to an article in What’s new DOC, a publication aimed at health practitioners. The <a href="http://www.health24.com/news/Health_care/1-918,51295.asp">Democratic Alliance </a>has also questioned the affordability of the proposed scheme, labelling it as “expensive and complex”. The party has called for the NHI system to be placed on hold, while the current system is made to work more efficiently. Doctors at the coalface seem to agree that operational inefficiencies in the functioning of the healthcare system, rather than a shortage of cash, are responsible for the crisis. It is hard to believe that healthcare practitioners will be prepared to dig deep, yet again, and try to plug the holes of another untimely, ill-conceived idea from an incoming administration.Related - <a class="newshead" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1017534" target="_parent">Equal access to ALL hospitals </a> <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1013162">Secret health plan raises temperatures</a> <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/Business/BusinessTimes/Article1.aspx?id=1013161">State counts on private health facilities</a> <a href="http://multimedia.thetimes.co.za/audio/2009/06/the-national-health-insurance-explained/">Audio: The national health insurance </a>

SA hospital shocker

No pay, no cure – can our hospitals be salvaged? No drill, no operation. This was the scene facing a patient at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hos...

11:43 AM

Nurse busted selling baby formula

More deceit, manipulation, and bullshit ! Integrity is virtually unknown amongst blacks. Nurse bust selling baby formula that should be free for poor mothers<a class="entry-title-link" closure_hashcode_2h8t7n="877" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1007920" target="_blank">Control of milk stock investigated </a> THE Times has bust a staff member at a Soweto clinic discovered selling government-issued baby milk formula to an HIV-positive mother who should have received it free. While tiny babies were being fed watered-down maize meal and black tea during this month’s formula shortage, the woman, known as “Sister Thandi”, was allegedly selling the little stock left at the Chiawelo Clinic for R150 for a six-pack. Sister Thandi was fired yesterday following The Times’ investigation. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340588322919231874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_c-8ADHqEbe_xRT5HcXyUUlNGAynZfJq3IgpXRL2zLj9ZBGM2dnJUr8UzSzaE2RmOKEuiLLW1BAEUXppkGj46eijG3V6ObU7XDXUcIGBNnDkRhGQodZa6Qq75TVy4IzP3TY51Aj-DtNBi/s320/chiawelo-clinic-loser-thandi.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 158px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> FIRED: ‘Sister Thandi’ sold government-issued milk formula to a motherGauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu apologised this week to mothers who, for more than a week, could not feed their babies because the department had failed to pay formula supplier Nestlé for six months. Nestlé stopped delivering baby formula to clinics and state hospitals last month. On Friday, The Times visited Chiawelo Clinic and found a 28-year-old HIV-positive mother, whom we cannot name, desperately in search of formula for her two-month-old baby. She had been feeding her tiny son black tea. The woman said she had bought formula from another employee at the Chiawelo Clinic in April, despite knowing that she should not have to pay for it. After being turned away by a clinic nurse who claimed that there was no milk, she was approached by one of the clinic staff and told that, if she had money, “they could make a plan”.<div align="center"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340588318998932098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ucFugRHrGLKuDrjJlpaxLLSLohpZ6D8jdXxGXDjCHJsb0QUi6xqzi_9oPE6sWI_uevjumcKN9hwXsvVJzPmIP8UgWnQxSxtm_xRgzI11ZJFMGfEZ3WSzZlrm_ifcMkZD8FVWW03LjQF6/s320/chiawelo-clinic-baby-milk-formula.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 132px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> HIV-positive mother buys baby-milk formula, which she should have received free, at the Chiawelo Clinic, in Soweto </div> HIV-positive mothers risk passing on the virus to their babies through their breast milk and rely on free formula from state clinics and hospitals to feed their children. Last month, when the HIV-positive mother asked the clinic employee, whose name she does not know, how much she had to pay for formula, she was told R150. On Monday, The Times accompanied the young mother to the clinic to buy more formula and Sister Thandi told her that she could not sell it to her while “the other people were around”. She was told to “come tomorrow”. At 8.30am yesterday, the 28-year-old mother joined the queue to receive formula at Chiawelo Clinic’s maternity ward. When her turn came, she approached Sister Thandi and paid for six 400g tins of Nan Pelargon. She did not have her clinic card with her and, in normal circumstances, would have been denied formula. “I went to her office and told her I wanted to buy the milk. I paid her the R150. No questions were asked and within five minutes I got it.” The Times phoned the provincial health department to report the irregularity and an official, who introduced herself as Gugu, was sent to the clinic. Gugu, who refused to reveal her surname but said she was from the “district office”, confronted Sister Thandi in the clinic, which The Times was barred from entering. She confirmed that the formula bought yesterday was from government stock and should have been given free to poor HIV- positive mothers. Gauteng health department spokesman John Louw, said Sister Thandi was an Aids counsellor at the clinic and was employed by a non-government organisation contracted by the health department. He refused to name the organisation. He said Sister Thandi was taken to the police station by clinic security officers and a charge of theft was laid. When her organisation was told of her trade in formula, Louw said, it dismissed her immediately.

Nurse busted selling baby formula

More deceit, manipulation, and bullshit ! Integrity is virtually unknown amongst blacks. Nurse bust selling baby formula that should be fr...

2:47 AM

SA hospitals in crisis again, still, whatever

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kCs7bgAHSuBCg8Nr1nd3HP6c7VGLlejOT2v0Kd91aj_HVD85EBc_sS_kC00Po6Gzh9T04CATiSPpwQOOZEz_o5ZhXKUEh9IwWnkupBW7QuLHdPUp6x-3VzeVAvWF-xphnKDq9W10vpvC/s1600-h/hospitals-sa-01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339163145868342594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kCs7bgAHSuBCg8Nr1nd3HP6c7VGLlejOT2v0Kd91aj_HVD85EBc_sS_kC00Po6Gzh9T04CATiSPpwQOOZEz_o5ZhXKUEh9IwWnkupBW7QuLHdPUp6x-3VzeVAvWF-xphnKDq9W10vpvC/s400/hospitals-sa-01.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 390px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px" /></a>South Africa’s state hospitals are in crisis — and at risk of collapse. Underpaid doctors are working up to 36-hour shifts without pay, operating theatres and trauma units are summarily shut down because of a lack of basic supplies, and patients are routinely turned away because of a lack of ventilators, beds and medicine. The shocking state of the country’s public health sector was revealed this week by hundreds of underpaid and demoralised doctors who are at loggerheads with the government over their shocking working conditions and paltry pay. South Africa currently has just over 18000 doctors in the public sector, which works out at one doctor to every 3800 citizens without medical aid. The World Health Organisation recommends an average ratio of eight doctors to every 10000 people — about three times more doctors than we currently have. Doctors and health experts blame the shambles of public health on mismanagement. But the minister of health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says : “I would not use the word crisis; I would say very serious challenges.” Dr Tina Ingratta, a senior doctor at Johannesburg’s major hospitals, lists poor management and misallocation of resources among the primary reasons why the healthcare system is in disarray. Dr Clarence Mini, who headed a committee to test the standards of Gauteng’s 33 public hospitals, said only 11 met basic standards when they were first measured in 2005. Since then, even some of the successful hospitals had dropped their standards, chiefly “owing to staff shortages and management issues”. As the doctors prepare to take to the streets on Friday and threaten to down tools during next month’s Confederations Cup soccer showpiece, they revealed that: <ul><li>All surgery was cancelled at Boitumelo Hospital in the Free State from Thursday this week because there was no life-saving oxygen and no surgical gloves that fitted surgeons’ hands; </li><li>A patient died of renal failure while stuck in a lift at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital ( Joburg hospital ). A “colony of flies” lived inside the hospital’s Caesarean-section operating theatre and some patients had to be carried up stairs from operating theatres to ICU on stretchers or in wheelchairs owing to lifts that have been defective for more than a year; </li><li>All life-saving equipment was defective in the emergency room at South Rand Hospital in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, since Thursday this week — including ventilators and a basic heart-restarting “defibrillator” machine that even many gyms stock for their members; </li><li>Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is regularly forced to “close” on weekends when it runs out of ventilators and space in its trauma wards and experiences frequent critical shortages of life-saving drugs ; </li><li>Only three “or a maximum of four” of Ngwelezane Hospital’s six operating theatres were working owing to a “chronic staff shortage”, with doctors working shifts of up to 36 hours without pay. The hospital is the major trauma centre for northern KwaZulu-Natal ; </li><li>Staff at Tara Hospital in Johannesburg were forced to use petty cash to buy bread and milk this week when “essential foodstuffs” ran out, while food was also not delivered to Sterkfontein Hospital in the past month; </li><li>There were no diagnostic services (procedures used to determine the cause of an illness) “at all” in the critical Nuclear Medicine departments at Bara-gwanath or Charlotte Maxeke hospitals “because the supplier has not been paid”; </li><li>Charlotte Maxeke has adopted a “first 500” rule whereby all patients are turned away after the first 500 have drawn their medicines from the pharmacy, because 15 of the pharmacy’s 20 posts have been “frozen”; and </li><li>East London Hospital Complex, one of the Eastern Cape’s referral hospitals, has only two full-time psychiatrists attending to about 12455 outpatients a year, excluding in-patients, outreach and community services. </li><li>The province has only 14 state-employed psychiatrists. </li></ul>Dr June Fabian, a senior specialist at Charlotte Maxeke, said there was sufficient money in the health system for functional hospitals, but “poor leadership and mismanagement of funds” had created “a crisis of care”. She said the Western Cape was the only province in which state hospital care was not yet in crisis. “The Western Cape health (department) has focused on developing their primary and secondary health-care systems and has a very tight referral system to the academic centres. This reduces the influx of primary-level care patients to big centres. The chaos at Bara exists because the primary-care centres in Soweto are poorly functional (and) there is no intermediate care facility in Soweto,” she said. An audit commissioned in 2007 by the Association of Surgeons shows that mid-level public-sector doctors earned 65% of equivalent-level magistrates and engineers in government employment. Senior surgeons and specialists earn almost half (52%) that of judges and senior pilots of state-owned airlines. Intern doctors this week showed the Sunday Times pay slips that indicated that they took home less than R10000 a month, although some earned up to R14500 with 80 hours of monthly overtime pay. said that, as of Thursday this week, there was no life-saving oxygen at all in the hospital and no surgical gloves that fit surgeons hands, causing all surgery to be cancelled; <ul><li>Dr Tina Ingratta, a senior doctor at Johannesburg’s major hospitals, told the Sunday Times that one of her patients died of renal failure while stuck inside one of the many faulty lifts at the hospital Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (“Joburg General”) as doctors waited to receive him at the renal unit on the 9th floor. A panel of 33 junior doctors here said that “a colony of flies” lived inside the hospital’s caesarean section operating theatre, and that some patients had to be carried up stairs from operating theatres to ICU on stretchers or in wheelchairs due to lifts which have been defective for over a year; </li><li>Dr Jack Thomson, an intern at various Johannesburg hospitals, said all life saving equipment was defective in the emergency room at South Rand Hospital in Rosettenville as of Thursday this week -including both ventilators and a basic, heart-restarting “defibrulator” machine which even many gyms stock for their members. Thomson said premature babies died “very, very often” at Joburg General because there were only 8 to 10 ICU beds for babies; </li><li>The panel of junior doctors confirmed that Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is regularly forced to “close” on weekends when it runs out of ventilators and space in its trauma wards; that it is so short of equipment that some doctors have been forced to use Biohazard Waste boxes as desks to write their scripts; and that it has frequent critical shortages of life-saving drugs like adrenaline and heparin; </li><li>Dr Thomas Hilton, a senior medical officer at Ngwelezane Hospital -the major trauma centre for northern KwaZuluNatal -said only three “or maximum four” of the hospital’s six operating theatres were working due to a “chronic staff shortage”. He said some foreign doctors worked shifts of up to 36 hours without pay -treating over 100 patients per shift -to keep the institution open, because the provincial Department of Health refused to appoint the needed more doctors; </li></ul> <ul><li>Professor Chris Szabo, head of clinical psychiatry at Wits, said staff at Tara Hospital were forced to use petty cash to buy bread and milk this week when "essential foodstuffs" ran out, while food was also not delivered to Sterkfontein Hospital in the past month; </li></ul>Motsoaledi told the Sunday Times yesterday that he would “not try to dispute what doctors have been telling you. Unfortunately, I know those serious problems are possible.” He said he had listed “financial management” as the first of his department’s four priority areas for urgent action. He said there was no need for some doctors to strike or leave the service because “we acknowledge their remuneration is not satisfactory. I apologise for the delay of almost 12 months with this problem, and there is a willingness and a determination on government’s part to resolve this issue as speedily as possible.” Fidel Hadebe, a spokesman for the department, said an offer of improved pay and conditions was currently “on the table” with the SA Medical Association, but refused to discuss the details. However, Ingratta said: “Ten to 15% of my fellow registrars will definitely leave the sector this year if anything like that deal is accepted. It’s a total joke — it actually represents a net cut in our salary.” The government is offering doctors a one-off payment and to phase in increases over a period of time. But, in essence, what government is offering would still be far less then what the SA Medical Association is demanding — an effective 50% increase. Professor Mac Luhkele, chief negotiator for the Sama, said independent studies showed that there were “big differences” between the two parties. He warned that conditions were not improving and “we are going to lose a lot of doctors if this isn’t solved soon”. The Sama and other unions are now hoping for political intervention in the negotiations and, together with Cosatu, will meet with the ministers of health, public service and administration and the treasury on Wednesday to come up with a proposal that will hopefully resolve the matter. Lukhele said industrial action was a last resort, as government would not be the ones suffering, but the poor and sick who cannot afford medical aid. “We are not unreasonable. Legally or not legally, what do we do when we are being ignored? ” said Lukhele. The CEO of National Hospital Network, Otto Wypkema, said: “Unless we have more doctors, both the private sector and the public-sector health services will crumble to the point of no return. “It is appalling that doctors, dentists and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel should be kept waiting for nine months since June 2008 for promised salary adjustments.

SA hospitals in crisis again, still, whatever

South Africa’s state hospitals are in crisis — and at risk of collapse. Underpaid doctors are working up to 36-hour shifts without pay, oper...

3:04 PM

Gauteng government R50-m hospital food debt crisis

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRQtBX5h0JG8wSiLYpBVvxCdoFmQV_qeaUPcFt0DApYcZBPNr3HTEJ_H_cvKOfTdv3gBIABUHo0WMaq962VjiMQpQYMCSYeeX__rvdJq_KuNMEF7el1H7SpTh_8p1X0u4Ebou7v-HgDpR/s1600-h/mot-consistency.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338428111770359890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRQtBX5h0JG8wSiLYpBVvxCdoFmQV_qeaUPcFt0DApYcZBPNr3HTEJ_H_cvKOfTdv3gBIABUHo0WMaq962VjiMQpQYMCSYeeX__rvdJq_KuNMEF7el1H7SpTh_8p1X0u4Ebou7v-HgDpR/s320/mot-consistency.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px" /></a>Hospitals in Gauteng owe millions of rands to food supply and distribution companies - with some city institutions being the worst culprits. One of the worst Pretoria hospital debt offenders is George Mukhari Hospital near Ga-Rankuwa, which owes the Midland Meat company R765 000. The hospital, which is now securing other suppliers, is also believed to owe hundreds of thousands of rands to other food suppliers. Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria held a fete on Saturday in an attempt to raise desperately needed funds. Hospital staff say the money generated by the event is desperately needed so that the cash-strapped hospital can function properly. Midland Meat says Weskoppies owes it R230 000. The company has now stopped supplying the institution until it is paid. According to sources the Pretoria News has spoken to, the amount owed to the food companies by the provincial government is close to R50-million. It appears that no plans have been made for the province to settle its debts. Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe's April 14 deadline for all payments to be made has come and gone, and hospitals, according to former food suppliers, are now tendering with new suppliers and distributors. Documents and emails in the Pretoria News's possession from city hospitals confirm a huge debt and show that companies are withholding supplies. In an email Steve Biko Academic Hospital chief executive Dr Ernest Kenoshi confirmed to the DA's Jack Bloom that contracted suppliers had stopped supplies to the hospital. "Yes, it is true that contracted suppliers of baby formula milk, bread and meat have stopped supplies, giving as a reason long overdue payments through the GSSC system. See - <a class="entry-title-link" closure_hashcode_cqjm2c="904" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1003657" target="_blank">Still no baby formula for HIV mothers </a><a class="entry-title-link" closure_hashcode_cqjm2c="718" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1004685" target="_blank">Mother feeds baby black tea </a> "However, there are no shortages of these items in the hospitals as we have activated our contingency plans to keep patients fed all meals by obtaining deliveries from other suppliers. "We are in constant discussions with the suppliers on a daily basis and also working daily with GSSC to expedite payments." The GSSC is the Gauteng Shared Services Centre which falls under the provincial Finance Department and deals with all supplies to hospitals. Another Pretoria hospital seeking new food suppliers is Kalafong Hospital, near Atteridgeville. A letter from the hospital superintendent, Dr Lancelot Phalatsi, to the Gauteng Health Department's services branch acting head, Dr P Maduna, lists 12 companies that have stopped supplying the hospital. Phalatsi, in his March letter, says: "This is not an exhaustive list; we are still working on a complete report." A memo from the hospital's procurement department, which is attached to the letter, states: "As can be seen, all these companies supply food and therefore have a direct impact towards patients. "The following are just a few (companies) that continuously query their account with us … please find copies of our commitment register to the GSSC of orders that we sent from November 2008 until today that are still not paid." Andre Hattingh, Midland Meat's hospital tender accountant, said they were owed R3.4 million from deliveries to 30 Gauteng hospitals dating back to 2007. "Of this money R1.7 million is from Pretoria hospitals. "The department has given us every excuse imaginable for not paying us," he said. Hattingh said the city's worst offending hospitals were George Mukhari Hospital, which owed R765 000; Steve Biko Academic Hospital (R239 000); Weskoppies Hospital (R230 000); Kalafong Hospital (R163 000); and Jubilee Hospital (R114 000). He said they had stopped deliveries and would only restart them once payments had been received. Seef le Roux, Mageu Number One's financial executive, whose company has stopped deliveries to Kalafong, Weskoppies and Steve Biko Academic hospitals, said they had had problems since they had first tendered for the hospital food contract four years ago. The company supplies Mageu, a maize drink product. "We are owed R80 000 and so far we have written off R40 000 worth of debt and are looking at writing off more debt. "The department's excuses are ridiculous and we will stop further deliveries if we are not paid," he said. Bloom said the payments disaster had to be sorted out. "We need to ask why the provincial government is not paying its debts as we cannot have hospitals making alternative arrangements only to run into debt again because the province can't pay," he said. Despite promising to respond to questions e-mailed, the Gauteng Health Department failed to comment by the time of going to print. See also - <a href="http://www.sabcnews.com/portal/site/SABCNews/menuitem.5c4f8fe7ee929f602ea12ea1674daeb9/?vgnextoid=6bf4b7a2ab761210VgnVCM10000077d4ea9bRCRD&vgnextfmt=default" title="Gauteng baby formula backlog cleared">Gauteng baby formula backlog cleared</a>

Gauteng government R50-m hospital food debt crisis

Hospitals in Gauteng owe millions of rands to food supply and distribution companies - with some city institutions being the worst culprits....

11:22 AM

Hospital staff in criminal probe

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQ3yPx4sSyx8oy5mT7b18fhnfJ436C3UpvixAnyuChRmBWgOkhSdpGprNhQ194KNuSF8EJYA1IWIPalpAmUBDir7okb_81OueKUAJUNzsoZE-PBTKHGZn3DpYURG3liJjfu3j_t-pYEU/s1600-h/Mahatma+Gandhi+Hospital+ent.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306529481291430050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQ3yPx4sSyx8oy5mT7b18fhnfJ436C3UpvixAnyuChRmBWgOkhSdpGprNhQ194KNuSF8EJYA1IWIPalpAmUBDir7okb_81OueKUAJUNzsoZE-PBTKHGZn3DpYURG3liJjfu3j_t-pYEU/s400/Mahatma+Gandhi+Hospital+ent.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px" /></a>At least 10 of Mahatma Gandhi Hospital's most "influential" staff face suspension - with immediate effect - following a two-year investigation into various criminal activities. KwaZulu Natal acting head of department Yoliswa Mbele on Monday said a presiding officer and an investigating officer would be appointed to handle the disciplinary hearings of officers working for the department who would be charged with fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice. Provincial health spokesperson Chris Maxon said they were ready to take the Health Department employees to court and institute internal disciplinary proceedings against them. Their files would be sent to the Commercial Crime Unit. The allegations against them included bribery, asking sexual favours for jobs, the abuse of authority and nepotism, fraud which included lying about their qualifications, as well as wrongly granted remuneration in which "ghost employees" - or people no longer employed there - were still on the payroll. Maxon warned that investigations were continuing and that it had taken two years to reach this stage because of the complexity of the matter. However, The Star has learnt that many of the hospital's workers who might have information were afraid to give evidence against their "bosses" as they felt they could lose their jobs. Mahatma Gandhi Hospital is not new to controversy. In 2005, 22 newborn babies died of klebsiella, a bacterial disease, prompting a high-level investigation. Meanwhile, Health MEC Peggy Nkonyeni is expected to stand trial in June on a corruption charge relating to the procurement of a mammogram machine.

Hospital staff in criminal probe

At least 10 of Mahatma Gandhi Hospital's most "influential" staff face suspension - with immediate effect - following a two-ye...

10:55 AM

'Crisis at Durban hospital'

Durban - A crisis has hit Durban's King Edward VIII Hospital with operations cancelled because of a lack of medical supplies, the IFP said on Thursday. The party said it learned on Wednesday that more than 20 operations were scrapped in the space of two days due to the health department's radical cost-saving measures. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299477632712375714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF84fn1-AE7PhZo4Cuz5T3w2Gi2_jwa_p60GwyXJecLQbnYGsV6pNuN-foD8b2binAeb-uhVP07VC1Ez7v1Z7iai8xKxuf96FLIbWMRoPDWZghX_t6NklrUZX-qAlMBLuYWDZq3TuOGDU/s400/Durban+King+Edward+VIII+Hospital.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 249px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> Surgeons did not have basic supplies such as swabs, dressings, gauze and diathermy plates. The Inkatha Freedom Party's Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi blamed health MEC Peggy Nkonyeni for the crisis at the hospital, saying it was a result of the African National Congress's mismanagement of the public health sector under Nkonyeni. "The IFP maintains that the health department's failures at King Edward VIII Hospital and elsewhere in the province are in spite of immense resources spent. "The department has a budget over-expenditure of R2bn and has effectively frozen medical posts, despite staff shortages." Grants 'unspent' Provincial conditional grants for hospitals remained unspent in the face of crumbling infrastructure and shortage of equipment, Msibi said. "In addition, the ANC MEC is about to stand trial on charges of corruption," she said. Nkonyeni will stand trial on charges of corruption in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court from June 1 to 12. The charges relate to the purchase of ultra-sound equipment for KwaZulu-Natal. Health spokesperson Leon Mbangwa said the hospital had experienced problems, but the situation would be back to normal on Friday. He said Msibi's allegations were "malicious, untrue and seek to paint an incorrect picture of the situation at King Edward VIII Hospital". 'Supply chain management' "There are a number of reasons but major of these include the supply chain management where orders have not been received as a result of closures during the festive season. "Secondly, the hospital has had to prioritise emergencies over elective surgeries until the stock has been received from suppliers and other nearby hospitals." Mbangwa said the situation was under control. "Those who do not need surgery as an emergency were put off for a later date. "We are liaising with suppliers to deliver supplies as an emergency. "We are also processing all outstanding orders in order to ensure that the situation is arrested," said Mbangwa.

'Crisis at Durban hospital'

Durban - A crisis has hit Durban's King Edward VIII Hospital with operations cancelled because of a lack of medical supplies, the IFP sa...

12:26 PM

Doctor, patients trapped inside Joburg hospital lift for 1 hour

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXomfQJK6-L3kyhjbfrDOuZw-66wdqOMoBTkRupiZ-JDdSt69Sm3gzUEeehScLR2r-elLaNU7iVXMnh435l1iSrqIV9Yn47vspLbwpVfg9LlrQsrPrBPCJacapBIyoPzKZ-VB-F_hFG4/s1600-h/hospital-joburg.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293462134165772626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXomfQJK6-L3kyhjbfrDOuZw-66wdqOMoBTkRupiZ-JDdSt69Sm3gzUEeehScLR2r-elLaNU7iVXMnh435l1iSrqIV9Yn47vspLbwpVfg9LlrQsrPrBPCJacapBIyoPzKZ-VB-F_hFG4/s400/hospital-joburg.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>The health department is investigating the state of the lifts at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital after patients and a medical doctor were trapped in them. Spokesperson Phumelele Kaunda said on Thursday: "We are investigating what actually happened. It is not standard practice for infrastructure to be left unattended or not maintained. There is work in progress on the lift at this moment," said Kaunda. A medical doctor, a pregnant woman, and three asthma patients were trapped in the elevator at 9.05am on Wednesday on the sixth floor of at the hospital's Block 3. Six-weeks pregnant Caroline Gumede (26) was rushed to surgery on Wednesday night to try to save her baby. According to witnesses Gumede was the first person in the lift to suffer a panic attack. She fainted and started bleeding. The asthma patients also had panic attacks and vomited. Some of the people in the lift had to be taken to the casualty ward to be put on a drip after the doors were broken down. However, Kaunda denied that the doctor and patients were trapped for an hour inside the lift. "The duration of the incident was 45 minutes not one hour as stated. The incident is regretted," she said.

Doctor, patients trapped inside Joburg hospital lift for 1 hour

The health department is investigating the state of the lifts at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital after patients and a medica...

7:00 AM

EXPOSED : Joburg's hospitals of shame

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OhcwqSnSefqmeolEos05sdgPpKoHT1VREXrP7XYNTYf5tesyfM_O1bD5ZvJ6oqVAA9MfnvhAD0xjO2mMkB_TH9zEfZ4ozxfVUDBv-U_t556VSGFRG8-xsO4-0pSlcuiefZDUaB9noMs/s1600-h/hospitals-sa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293291724602860354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OhcwqSnSefqmeolEos05sdgPpKoHT1VREXrP7XYNTYf5tesyfM_O1bD5ZvJ6oqVAA9MfnvhAD0xjO2mMkB_TH9zEfZ4ozxfVUDBv-U_t556VSGFRG8-xsO4-0pSlcuiefZDUaB9noMs/s320/hospitals-sa.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 304px" /></a>On the cusp of the Human Rights Commission's three-day inquiry into public health services starting on Wednesday, a team from The Star has found cockroach-infested toilets, bloodied linen and an alarming lack of security at six Joburg hospitals. Journalists gained uninterrupted access to wards at Chris Hani-Baragwanath, Leratong, Natalspruit, Johannesburg, Helen Joseph and Tambo Memorial hospitals and found unlocked equipment rooms, filthy toilets, smelly wards and, in some instances, used stitches and syringes in corridors. The findings, while shocking, will come as no surprise to about 50 concerned South Africans and healthcare organisations who have submitted more than 1 000 pages of submissions to the HRC, covering everything from the prohibitively high cost of transport to the "homo-prejudiced" attitude of some health workers. Breast cancer patients who die while waiting for treatment, abuse of psychiatric patients and a lack of emergency hospital transport are some of the problems at public health facilities that could benefit from a health ombudsman after a call for one by the HRC. Provisional conclusions by the commission following a three-month study of health facilities around the country say there is a need for an independent office, perhaps within the HRC, which can monitor healthcare facilities. The study was conducted as part of preparations for the three-day public inquiry. A panel comprising HRC chairperson Jody Kollapen, his deputy Zonke Majodina, and Charles Ngwenya from the University of the Free State will listen to submissions over the next three days. Submissions have been received from several leading universities and lobby groups like the Aids Law Project and the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre. A submission by the Wits School of Public Health, the Agincourt Health and Population Unit and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine deals with the South African Costs and Coping Study, which was conducted in Limpopo last year. The study rated the community's access to healthcare and found that of the respondents with health problems, 33 percent did not seek treatment because they could not afford either transport or treatment. The National Working Group on Sexual Offences raised attention in its submission to the stark lack of specialist staff to deal with rape survivors 24 hours a day at an "overwhelming majority" of public clinics and hospitals. "Some categories of rape survivors are subjected to additional sub-standard care by the healthcare system. One such group includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people whose treatment by some health workers is characterised by subtle or not so subtle homo-prejudiced or heterosexist attitudes," they add. The submission by the SA Medical Association says the three-month waiting list for radiation treatment at Groote Schuur in Cape Town is found all over the country, with women suffering from breast and cervix cancer most affected. The submission also says, shockingly, that there are just seven child psychologists in the public health service in the country. The hearings were scheduled to start at the HRC offices in Parktown at 9:30am. Johannesburg Bloody toilets, thick layers of dust and other rubbish lying around greeted The Star at the city's public inner-city hospital. The list goes on to include dirty floors, broken locks on doors and no toilet paper. Security at the hospital was of grave concern - it was astonishingly easy to get around unchallenged. The Star visited the maternity ward, general wards, and the eye and casualty wards. The toilets were terrible, with no sanitary bins to speak of, no toilet seats or lids, and blood-smeared toilet bowls. On Saturday night The Star found a used injection needle in a men's toilet. The bed linen was old but clean. A massive waste bin, filled to the brim, is the first thing you see upon entering the Hospital Road main entrance. Leratong In the process of a major upgrade, facilities at Leratong leave a lot to be desired. Security appears to be strict on entry, although leaving doesn't necessarily entail vehicle searches. Broken windows abound in various sections of the hospital, and the staff. on the whole, seem unfriendly. There is a horrible stench in both the general and surgical wards. Tellingly, equipment and linen rooms were left open in most wards, although the medical supplies rooms were usually locked. The kitchen is next to the mortuary, so that transparent, plastic bags of meat are ferried into the canteen through the mortuary entrance on trolleys. Many patients had food on side tables in the wards. The children's wards are ill-equipped, with patients on rickety, sometimes rusty beds. Bloodied baby clothes were in the bathroom. Toilets were in a shocking state. Helen Joseph Helen Joseph Hospital looked clean and the staff seemed alert and friendly. Access to the wards was relatively easy, although The Star was prevented from going near the ICU. Nurses often asked if they could help with directions. Paint was peeling off the walls and many floor tiles were broken. The canteen seemed clean and easy to access, although signs warned that the area was meant only for staff. There were no security checks at all, especially at the exit, where guards looked uninterested. The TB isolation ward could be accessed easily, and despite signs warning visitors to wear face-masks, none could be found. The hospital uses a budget-type of wheelchair, plastic garden chairs attached to sets of wheels. The toilets were filthy and many of them sported broken seats and no toilet paper. Old, bloodied mattresses lay in the corridors. Natalspruit Sizeable cockroaches greet visitors in the patients' toilets at Natalspruit. Piles of used toilet paper were also found in the cubicles, along with an assortment of other rubbish. While there were security guards at the pedestrian entrance who conduct hand-held metal detector and bag searches, it is possible to walk through the vehicle entrance and not be searched. Furthermore, there are no security checks done when exiting the hospital, which means that criminals can easily walk out with objects obtained in the hospital. Entry into the casualty ward was easy and not a single nurse or orderly questioned our presence in the ward, even though a sign above the door said that no unauthorised people were allowed in. Chris Hani-Baragwanath If Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang wants to know where all her missing linen is, she should pay a visit to Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital. Filthy piles of linen have been stuffed, together with dirty crockery, into staff lockers near the mortuary. Disused showers were also full of bags of unwashed laundry. The four security guards at the entrance acted more like traffic officers, directing cars and not searching anyone either exiting or entering the premises. We gained access to most wards undetected. It was particularly easy to get into the maternity ward, where the filth was noticeable. Used stitches lay on the floor along with dirty gloves, and a bucket full of used syringes was left in the hallway outside. Naked women in labour could be spied through open doors almost directly accessible from the visitors' parking lot. Although two nurses kept watch at a room where several babies were fighting for their lives in incubators, we gained access to the other rooms also containing highly specialised ventilators containing babies. Reception offices contained computers that were left unattended and easily accessible. The toilets were disgustingly dirty and smelly, with many of them broken. The hospital is currently being upgraded. Tambo Memorial On the face of it, Tambo Memorial Hospital looks reasonable, but there is room for improvement. The cleaners could do with some training as the corridors and floors are grubby. The women's public toilets have no paper and the lids and basins are in need of a good scrubbing. There were no bad odours in the toilets or in the hospital. Security is above average and the women officers are assertive, but quite friendly. The linen in the wards is old but clean, and there appears to be a sufficient supply, as none of the patients have had to bring sheets and blankets from home. The section for prisoners looks reasonably secure and the lifts appear to be in working order. The hospital needs painting. "Probe is not accurate" Gauteng Department of Health representative Zanele Mngadi responds: "We acknowledge the challenges faced by our department and have started the following programmes in an attempt to address them. We've started a unit called Quality Assurance, with a focus on customer care. "On issues of untidiness and security, we are strengthening policies to ensure centralisation of the management of these areas. This will improve our monitoring system, thus ensuring appropriate corrective measures. "Your investigation was done during the 'go-slow' period, and that has made your findings less accurate."

EXPOSED : Joburg's hospitals of shame

On the cusp of the Human Rights Commission's three-day inquiry into public health services starting on Wednesday, a team from The Star h...

11:37 AM

Five worst hospitals in South Africa

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsO4icxtqDXWRyIA_St4FWNQ5NX2lNW-MKU9DWFaQ7HZJvusNCfIRwAkWm_m-Uod1DeqV_pBq135POc59cdohcE718qizCHktOX2FQ_anFQp_IcrwuAgwVSYMLeqfYmme1RKqyjZiLj0/s1600-h/rats-cockroaches.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292637282453399490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsO4icxtqDXWRyIA_St4FWNQ5NX2lNW-MKU9DWFaQ7HZJvusNCfIRwAkWm_m-Uod1DeqV_pBq135POc59cdohcE718qizCHktOX2FQ_anFQp_IcrwuAgwVSYMLeqfYmme1RKqyjZiLj0/s400/rats-cockroaches.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 235px" /></a>Rats and cockroaches, discarded wheelchairs, and babies sharing incubators are just some of the things the Democratic Alliance has found at the "five worst public hospitals in South Africa". DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard on Wednesday named Gauteng's Natalspruit Hospital, the Eastern Cape's Umtata General and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals, Mpumalanga's Rob Ferreira Hospital and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in KwaZulu Natal as the party's pick of the country's most disgraceful hospitals. More worrying, she said, was that three of the hospitals - Rob Ferreira, Umtata and Natalspruit - were part of the health department's much trumpeted hospital revitalisation plan. However, the party had found little evidence of the effects of the programme at the targeted hospitals. A spokesperson for Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Wednesday said the DA had not used any "clear criteria" in selecting the five hospitals and that no full assessments were made. He said the budget for the hospital revitalisation programme had been increased to R1-billion in the current financial year, which would enable the department to address the challenges. In the case of Rob Ferreira, the department reportedly spent R180-million renovating facilities last year, according to a departmental report on provincial health services. The department said it had also budgeted for an entire upgrade of Natalspruit Hospital in the next financial year. Kohler-Barnard said a series of parliamentary questions indicating massive skills gaps at these hospitals had indicated "which hospitals to home in on". She had then made surprise visits to all the hospitals, barring Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, where she said authorities were tipped off about her impending visit. A fellow DA official had visited instead. "At the worst hospitals, patients must spend hours waiting for a file; bring their own linen; stay in wards infested with vermin and reeking of human waste; and often share beds with other patients. "Hospital buildings are infested with grime, rubbish and vermin. In these conditions it is patently obvious that the rights of patients are not being respected and that urgent action is required," she said. Her visit to Umtata General, which serves about 1,5 million people, showed the hospital to have "clearly visible" mice and "shining toxic waste" at the entrance. At Natalspruit she had found two babies sharing an incubator, as well as a dire shortage of beds and respirators in the maternity ward. Kohler-Barnard added: "There is no question in my mind that the buck stops with the minister. Her job is to provide healthcare for South Africans, and when I see what South Africans are put through when they go to these hospitals, it is absolutely heartbreaking." Kohler-Barnard said the DA planned to conduct a publicity campaign over the next year to ensure action was taken at the five hospitals.

Five worst hospitals in South Africa

Rats and cockroaches, discarded wheelchairs, and babies sharing incubators are just some of the things the Democratic Alliance has found at ...

11:28 AM

Eastern Cape hospital report 'reads like a horror story'

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxK9Fbw0nfdiUHMvgaWvgsO58h9n2Rj-j5OBaj-BfPAzeFHn9X0SrLdv_4F0TVad7Yt-CeWLKoVqrInerfj_IzXqN7IwaYc7VKalyrqgTeknH_NIPBT97u0LKgt8nXAPNv2so_SWBh4M/s1600-h/hospital-blame.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253381395376511938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxK9Fbw0nfdiUHMvgaWvgsO58h9n2Rj-j5OBaj-BfPAzeFHn9X0SrLdv_4F0TVad7Yt-CeWLKoVqrInerfj_IzXqN7IwaYc7VKalyrqgTeknH_NIPBT97u0LKgt8nXAPNv2so_SWBh4M/s400/hospital-blame.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> While authorities blamed deadly tap water for the spate of deaths, a damning report from the national Health Department – kept under wraps for months by former minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang - was released this week. A hospital implicated in a healthcare scandal that saw 140 Eastern Cape babies lose their lives charged mothers R30 to sleep on the floor alongside their sick children. This is one of the shocking details unveiled in a just-released report by a task team of child-health experts appointed to probe the deaths, reported in nine hospitals in the Ukhahlamba district during the first three months of 2008. The task team of three specialists found no evidence of any outbreak of disease and conclude that the babies died because they were born in one of the country's poorest districts and received poor healthcare. (click on image to enlarge) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrOwNq8ptR3i9jUzVHxnMGtrl1-ylUjtQ2QNgWzwDQg3KFQxJ_fP4KMkONTnxCL82OZIgkWSihft66npqrQNEYPY_gvfOcnZyUYw9ExzruW2eUUxa16oxbuLgW0uvrxa5KI5jfQH8W7w8/s1600-h/waterdossier.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253384158158679794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrOwNq8ptR3i9jUzVHxnMGtrl1-ylUjtQ2QNgWzwDQg3KFQxJ_fP4KMkONTnxCL82OZIgkWSihft66npqrQNEYPY_gvfOcnZyUYw9ExzruW2eUUxa16oxbuLgW0uvrxa5KI5jfQH8W7w8/s320/waterdossier.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> The team paid special attention to the children's ward in the district's Empilisweni Hospital, where child deaths were among the highest in the area. This is where they found that mothers had to pay R30 to stay with their ill children - "expected to sleep on the floor next to their child's bed as no accommodation is provided for them". Basic medical and nursing standards and practices in the children's ward were found to be poor and infection control measures "limited". Preparation of infant feeds did not comply with accepted practice and there was limited access to oral rehydration solution for babies being treated for gastroenteritis. The task team found that although staff numbers were "reasonable", of 13 nurses on the ward, only three were permanent, making it difficult to develop consistent treatment practices. There was also minimal equipment in the ward. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu0NRXnU5p1sgoW15nalyZYf15yFecQLNoAzCD523SWChaJAxCEEr2yEeTcWA64VHL_M4gKWyzbNzp81tQyl6bH4OO741bS1Haj9F2fjqX7-1DGYLnUx-FtY_z2dZScCmRxzUJJl8pOKs/s1600-h/water-timeline.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253383669907711650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu0NRXnU5p1sgoW15nalyZYf15yFecQLNoAzCD523SWChaJAxCEEr2yEeTcWA64VHL_M4gKWyzbNzp81tQyl6bH4OO741bS1Haj9F2fjqX7-1DGYLnUx-FtY_z2dZScCmRxzUJJl8pOKs/s400/water-timeline.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Broader healthcare problems in the area included non-compliance with treatment protocols, inadequate facilities, insufficient staff training and low staff numbers, poor nursing standards, slack procurement procedures and an apparent disregard for the maintenance of accurate medical records. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDUjlVlK3Zk_5Ea0QV7gYaWaw45cZn_TXeU4u6aSeD9sQm9G7iFgwkaAbxqvR488GoQnzQIz_ndAlQPUnoNk8LzxNl9JS3r68s-E1LWWfbdZgB0l9jSL8VCoFOZb99npgVdOJA123k54/s1600-h/waterdossier.jpg"></a> Democratic Alliance MP Mike Waters, who threatened legal measures to get the report released, said it was "simply inexcusable" that the situation in some of the hospitals was allowed to "persist unchecked". He thanked Hogan for releasing the report and called on her to ensure that "this tragedy is never repeated". IFP health spokesperson Ruth Rabinowitz, a trained medical doctor, said the report "reads like a horror story". "The nurses have behaved in a way that shows they're failing to implement their training. It is mind-boggling that they did not record the patients' weights, HIV and nutritional status," she said. (click on image to enlarge)Rabinowitz suggested that all the entities responsible for maintaining professional healthcare standards in the country should be held accountable, adding that a class-action lawsuit may well be filed against the hospitals involved. She noted that gastroenteritis was "one of the oldest and most common" childhood ailments and it was "ludicrous" that staff were only now, after the problems were exposed, being trained in basic hygiene. <a class="TopStoryHead" href="http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=256302">Child-care experts blast hospital in damning report </a>

Eastern Cape hospital report 'reads like a horror story'

While authorities blamed deadly tap water for the spate of deaths, a damning report from the national Health Department – kept under wraps ...

10:49 AM

Ailing hospital in Johannesburg a disaster

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7b9UIF5mnSFnA1cUdo3Bsped6mOeBydtqknQ-knzhl5bEhcGdRpZYTaGcu_AHxNiXydYr8huk1wvuEb5yCMcI7KEwwI4MB3wn9eNLjoE3KEXo0C24VcYQ-SrepcE9-slEi9-IJWg9Y1o/s1600-h/elevator-emergency.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240463889461259698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7b9UIF5mnSFnA1cUdo3Bsped6mOeBydtqknQ-knzhl5bEhcGdRpZYTaGcu_AHxNiXydYr8huk1wvuEb5yCMcI7KEwwI4MB3wn9eNLjoE3KEXo0C24VcYQ-SrepcE9-slEi9-IJWg9Y1o/s320/elevator-emergency.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>On August 10, a pregnant woman stuck in a broken lift at the Coronation hospital for two hours had to give birth in the lift. A contractor reportedly arrived 50 minutes later to repair the lift. Two days later, a mother who was due to have an emergency caesarean section after her foetus was in distress was forced to push instead because of a power failure. Her baby was stillborn. A paediatrician was called to help, but was trapped in the hospital's ward 16 behind an electronic gate because the key to unlock the gate couldn't be found. The latest incident is now under investigation by the Gauteng Department of Health. The hospital reportedly remained without electricity for about half an hour. Jack Bloom, the Democratic Alliance spokesperson on health matters, said the baby's cord was apparently stuck around its neck and it could not receive oxygen because the hospital was without electricity. "This is a tragedy, which could have been foreseen. It looks like equipment failure was a factor. What price do you put on a baby's life?" he asked. "Coronation is a troubled hospital. The MEC says there is a medical investigation into the death of the baby, but I don't think that's good enough. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp95JeyxGB1FF47-xFytVV_-MaLxgfkxcM2amA8k_cJY4qCgfg3XRF8IMQdGRtGKju3H9SGvh6-wq7SklZ2OMHtlZvoWnDzPnfIDusFljZdnI3P1230hk3ztMt5-9QZx_2G1P7cFjtR98/s1600-h/lift-washing.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240438483867556466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp95JeyxGB1FF47-xFytVV_-MaLxgfkxcM2amA8k_cJY4qCgfg3XRF8IMQdGRtGKju3H9SGvh6-wq7SklZ2OMHtlZvoWnDzPnfIDusFljZdnI3P1230hk3ztMt5-9QZx_2G1P7cFjtR98/s400/lift-washing.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>"Maintenance at the hospital is a disaster from top to bottom. There are always broken lifts, and heavily pregnant women have to trudge up the stairs. If it's not the lifts that are broken, the power back-up supply is not operational." Maintenance of the hospital falls under the Gauteng Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works. Its spokesperson, Alfred Nhlapo, said the back-up generator at Coronation Hospital was fully functional on August 12. "Allegations that the generator was dysfunctional are untrue," he said. This week, on a visit to the hospital, where corridors were swollen with pregnant women, hospital staff were overheard asking if the lifts were working. A lift was broken in the maternity wing. An apologetic Nhlapo said the department would install 200 new lifts at hospitals and certain provincial buildings by October. "The bulk of the infrastructure is old and derelict despite maintenance." Over 12 000 babies are born every year at Coronation Hospital, which Bloom said was "under enormous pressure". He blamed the collapsing infrastructure on the Public Works Department's cancellation of long-term maintenance contracts last June, replacing them with a call centre. Nhlapo said: "The department decided last year that instead of having one contractor dedicated to several hospitals, the call centre was a pool of contractors available around the clock - a huge improvement on the old system." But Bloom maintains: "The hospital is a disaster and needs a thorough overhaul. "The department should hang their heads in shame."

Ailing hospital in Johannesburg a disaster

On August 10, a pregnant woman stuck in a broken lift at the Coronation hospital for two hours had to give birth in the lift. A contractor r...

2:54 AM

South Africa P.I.G.