Jack Bloom says patients wait in casualty wards on stretchers and in chairs for days before getting a bed.
DA Gauteng shadow MEC for health Jack Bloom wants Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko fired for saying that some patients in Gauteng prefer sleeping on the floor.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said this in an interview with the Sunday Times.
Bloom said these remarks indicate that Nkomo-Ralehoko is out of touch with the reality of most people who use the province’s public hospitals.
“This is outrageous and shows how out of touch she is with poor hospital conditions. Many patients spend days in casualty waiting to be admitted to a ward.”
“Last week, I intervened when a patient at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital was in casualty for a week before being admitted,” he said.
He said he also referred a Facebook complaint about an elderly woman waiting on a hard chair for assistance at Far East Rand Hospital from 3pm on Sunday to 11am on the Monday.
The Citizen has seen this Facebook post, and in it, the mother of the patient complains that the doctors seemed detached from the reality of the patients and walked around staring at their phones while some patients did not have beds.
“Panyaza Lesufi should fire his arrogant health MEC and replace her with a competent person who does not deny obvious problems in our hospitals and clinics,” said Bloom.
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Hospital infections
He said Nkomo-Ralehoko should be concerned that patients can contract infections and other diseases while sleeping on hospital floors.
“Over crowding will lead to cross infection. There are people stuck in casualty with all sorts of conditions and it’s a hazard.
Everyone is waiting for a bed if there are not enough beds and people are on top of each other, sanitary conditions will suffer and the risk of secondary infection will be high. This is terrible,” he said.
Bloom added that he has learnt that sometimes doctors would discharge recovering patients to make space for a patient who needs a bed.
“They wont admit it but it happens,” he said.
Linen shortage
Bloom said beds are not the only problem in Gauteng hospitals, saying the hospitals also suffer from linen shortages. He said this leads to patients being forced to bring their own blankets and linen to the hospital.
“They should have their own linen, but they run out of linen sometimes, they are short of clean linen because the laundries do not work, sometimes they cancel operations because they do not have clean linen,” he said.
ActionSA also concerned
ActionSA’s Emma More told The Citizen that more needs to be done to deal with over crowding in hospitals.
“Imagine how the staff is feeling as well. This impacts staff morale and the possibility of infections,” she said.
More believes that illegal immigration also contributes to the lack of bed space in hospitals.
“The budget cannot take care of everybody who is here it can take care of those that have been accounted for in the province,” she said.
The Citizen has reached out to the Gauteng health department on the matter. Their comment will be added to this story once it is received.
Nkomo-Ralehoko had also received criticism from former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa, who says no amount of PR will save her.
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