The dire conditions laid bare by a medical doctor at the Rahima Moosa Hospital in Johannesburg are a true reflection of problems experienced by Gauteng hospitals.
Unions on Monday said problems faced by public health facilities included staff shortages, lack of equipment and security issues.
Last week, paediatrician Dr Tim de Maayer penned an open letter, exposing the dire conditions at the hospital. He was then suspended but has since been reinstated.
De Maayer wrote about the heart-breaking experience of having to treat child patients in an ill-equipped environment where generators failed to kick in when needed and water was an issue.
Nehawu provincial general secretary Mzikayise Tshontshi said hospitals like Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus, on the East Rand had infrastructure issues while the lack of staff was also a problem.
“You can look around Gauteng and you will see that the state of infrastructure leaves much to be desired,” Tshontshi said.
He said the department leadership needed to take decisive action to resolve the issues.
Denosa provincial general secretary Bongani Mazibuko said poor health services in the province were a never-ending cycle. He said facilities such as Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria and Tembisa Hospital, on the East Rand were still operating on a staff complement for 2010 while the province’s population had grown.
Mazibuko called for the department to act speedily to address staff shortages and to refurbish broken infrastructure.
On Monday, the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said it intends to establish whether due process was followed during the suspension.
The SAHRC met with hospital management yesterday to start its investigation into issues at the hospital.
Gauteng provincial manager for the SAHRC Buang Jones said establishing whether proper disciplinary measures were followed would reflect whether there was a general culture of victimisation at the facility.
“Whistleblowing is key to advancing accountability. We need to know that people who raise issues of public issues in good faith will be protected without being subjected to victimisation,” Jones said.
“We need to understand the reasons behind the lifting of the suspension and who approved it in the first place,” he said.
He said it was disheartening to see that the hospital was still struggling with the same issues, including poor infrastructure and staff shortages, from its previous investigation four years ago.
Jones said there was a water outage during their visit to the facility, adding that management had admitted that things brought up by De Maayer in his open letter were true.
Jones said the commission would write to the department and reach out to De Maayer to get his side of the story.
Provincial health department spokesperson Kwara Kekana said matters between employers and employees would be addressed internally.
“Disciplinary processes of employees are between employer and employee and relevant bodies are available to adjudicate such matters,” she said.
During her budget vote speech on May 24,health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi said the department had received a budget of R59.4bn and a further R178.2bn over the 2022 medium-term expenditure.
Mokgethi said this would be allocated towards improving healthcare.
The department also released a detailed statement on the state of affairs at Rahima Moosa, reflecting that increased admissions and service interruptions were an issue but said healthcare in the province was still intact.
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