Inquiry into public hospitals

Human Rights Commission says visits to 5 Gauteng facilities painted a worrying picture

THE SA Human Rights Commission says there is a need to hold hearings into the state of healthcare services in the public institutions in Gauteng as a matter of urgency.

The commission’s provincial manager Buang Jones said yesterday that they had visited five hospitals and they paint a worrying picture about public healthcare.

“We’ve been to several hospitals since the beginning of May. Gauteng has approximately 35 hospitals and we can’t visit or inspect every hospital. So far, the common thread in all the hospitals we visited is lack of equipment, poor administration, long waiting periods, lack of beds, overcrowding, shortage of staff, high nepotism rate, lack of maintenance and poor infrastructure,” Jones said.

“The next step is to recommend to our commissioners to issue a subpoena to MEC Gwen Ramokgopa and head of department Professor Mkhululi Lukhele,” Jones said, adding that the hearings will be held next year should the recommendation be approved.

He said Gauteng had a growing population and there were people from all over the world flocking in for medical treatment in the province.

“We would like to see implementable solutions and time-bound action plans, otherwise we are in trouble,”

Jones said.

He said the matter had to be finalised urgently to ensure that those who rely on public healthcare facilities get quality service.

Jones said among the facilities the commission visited are Thelle Mogoerane in Ekurhuleni, Charlotte Maxeke Academic, Tembisa, Steve Biko and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child hospitals.

At Thelle Mogoerane, a deadly disease claimed the lives of six babies recently. The babies died of Klebsiella in the hospital’s neonatal unit.

The unit was still fully operational when the commission went there for an inspection in September, despite the Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s announcement that babies would be moved from the hospital to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and Charlotte Maxeke Academic.

The commission also inspected the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital last week where nine babies died from Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC).

“Baby deaths are a clear violation of human rights. We call on anyone who may have been affected to come forward so that we can assist in securing their rights,” Jones said.

DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom said he was concerned that the origins of the NEC outbreak had not yet been established.