In March last year, the then health Ombud Prof Malegapuru Makgoba painted a bleak picture of the state of one of Gauteng’s hospitals – Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital – in a report compiled after a doctor blew the whistle on appalling conditions.
The report was a reminder that hospitals in the province are in dire need of overhaul and not bandages on gaping wounds. In his report, Makgopa detailed several horror conditions including broken toilets, machines and patients being left unattended on the floor.
At the weekend, a patient named Tom London who was admitted to the Helen Joseph Hospital released a viral video on social media that echoed some of the horror stories we have had before.
He complained about the infrastructure problems at the hospital and the “uncaring” attitude of staff when attending to patients. He highlighted several disturbing encounters including a patient he said had been screaming like an animal while doctors stuck a needle in him.
His story received a flurry of responses on social media with many people sharing their bad experiences at public facilities in the province. Equally important is that this story got the attention of the MEC of health Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko and premier Panyaza Lesufi.
While Nkomo-Ralehoko has since said she is satisfied with “adequate clinical care” discharged to the patient to manage his condition, she was willing to allow an independent process to review the quality of care provided at the hospital. We are unlikely to know what the outcome of the independent process will be.
But the MEC will do well to look beyond this incident in trying to fix what is broken in the health system in the province given the number of complaints people have raised about treatment at facilities. This is in no way criticism directed at healthcare workers but the whole public healthcare system that we have been told of how broken it is.
The poor treatment of patients and broken infrastructure in Gauteng health goes years back and the Rahima Moosa hospital saga last year is just one example. It has been passed on for far too long. Lives are lost when people take too long to see a doctor and get treatment. The government must take seriously its constitutional duty to provide quality healthcare to all citizens by fixing the problems in our hospitals.
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