By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance is deeply concerned about the delays in the repairing and reopening of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital following the April 2021 fire that seriously damaged parts of the facility.
When Charlotte Maxeke burned down, patients were evacuated to Chris Hani Baragwanath, among other hospitals.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi originally promised that the casualty would be open in January this year, then moved the date to mid-March.
Gauteng Department of Health said there would be an update on Charlotte Maxeke this week.
However, with missed deadlines of reopening, displeased health workers and lack of resources were all a reflection of the deteriorating state of health care in South Africa and experts couldn’t agree more.
University of Pretoria associate professor for health systems and public health Dr Elize Webb said there was much room for improvement in terms of health care.
According to Webb, there was a need to improve service delivery, drug management, staff shortages, and management skills.
“Many good people need to capitalise on what’s working well,” she said.
Democratic Alliance shadow health MEC Jack Bloom said it was appalling the health department missed the deadlines in reopening Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital casualty when other hospitals were looking forward to the reopening.
“It follows the failure of the Gauteng Health Department and the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development to speedily repair the hospital, giving this task over to the National Department of Health (NDOH).”
According to the NDID, vandalism and theft have caused the delays in reopening the casualty. The CPU for the CT scanner was stolen, cables were cut into pieces, and copper pipes were stolen, said Bloom.
“This occurred despite R40 million a year that is spent on a security company and CCTV cameras to guard the hospital.”
Meanwhile, the Helen Joseph Hospital’s casualty department is overwhelmed with patients who are squeezed into corridors and sit in chairs for long periods before being admitted to wards, added Bloom.
“The time for excuses is over. Private sector expertise should be optimally used to reopen the CMJH casualty as soon as possible and fix up the rest of the hospital as well.”
The hospital opened partially in June and is operating at a bed capacity of about 650 beds. The emergency, psychiatry and cardiothoracic wards are just some of the units at the hospital that are still closed.