Story audio is generated using AI
The Democratic Alliance has accused the Gauteng department of health of failing patients at Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg due to delayed surgeries.
The department has dismissed the claim as untrue and maintains that surgical services continue to be rendered at the hospital.
The DA made the allegations outside the hospital on Thursday, when it said the health department had told many patients who required surgery that surgeries would only resume in June 2027.
According to the DA Gauteng spokesperson for health, Madeleine Hicklin, the department had failed to honour an earlier commitment that maintenance work on the hospital’s operating theatre complex would be completed within two months.
She said, instead, patients are now facing another year of uncertainty while living with chronic pain.
“One of the patients still waiting for a long-promised hip replacement has approached the DA in desperation. She is with us today after being left virtually confined to her home, where even the slightest movement causes excruciating pain,” Hicklin said.
The DA argues that it had repeatedly raised concerns in the Gauteng provincial legislature and submitted written questions to health MEC Faith Mazibuko, urging the department to refer patients awaiting elective surgery to other facilities while maintenance work continued.
Hicklin said Mazibuko’s written replies stated that refurbishment of the theatre complex would only be completed by October 31, 2026, months later than initially promised.
However, she said, the same replies also claimed that surgery services had not been affected.
“The MEC’s reply is riddled with contradictions. She cannot concede that the operating theatre refurbishment is months behind schedule while insisting that surgical services have not been affected,” Hicklin said.
The DA also criticised the department for allegedly failing to establish proper referral pathways for patients whose procedures had been delayed.
“If the delays have had no impact, why are patients being told their elective surgeries will only resume in June 2027,” she asked.
Read: Six hospital visits before diagnosing TB meningitis are costing children’s lives
Hicklin said the situation was cruel for making patients suffer unnecessarily because of poor planning.
She said the party would escalate the matter to the Gauteng legislature’s health portfolio committee and write to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi demanding that patients waiting for elective procedures be referred to hospitals where they could receive treatment sooner.
The Gauteng department of health rejected the claims, arguing that surgical services at Tambo Memorial Hospital had continued throughout the maintenance programme.
Steve Mabona, spokesperson for the Gauteng department of health, said there were no major renovations taking place at the hospital, and that only phased maintenance on the operating theatres’ air-handling units was under way to ensure the facilities continued to meet infection prevention and ventilation standards.
“The department wishes to reassure the public that the hospital continues to provide surgical services while essential maintenance work is being undertaken,” Mabona said.
He said that where operational or clinical factors required some procedures to be rescheduled, patients remained under active clinical management and were referred to other hospitals in the cluster, where appropriate, to ensure continuity of care.
“Elective surgical services continue to be provided daily in accordance with the treatment-time-guarantees programme,” Mabona said.
Mabona added that refurbishment of Theatre 1 had already been completed and that it was operational, while Theatre 2 had also been completed and was expected to reopen at the weekend.
“Work on Theatre 3 was due to start next week, with five operating theatres remaining available throughout the maintenance programme,” he said
He emphasised that the project remained on track and would be completed by the end of October.
Mabona said elective hip and knee replacement surgeries had been temporarily suspended because of the unavailability of a specialist, not because operating theatres were closed.
“As an interim measure, patients awaiting elective orthopaedic procedures have been referred to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital to facilitate continuity of care and will be contacted regarding the scheduling of their procedures,” he said.
Mabona also pointed to Tambo Memorial Hospital’s participation in the recent Mandela Day Surgical Marathon, during which it completed 44 of 47 planned procedures.
He said that demonstrated that surgical services had continued despite the ongoing maintenance work.
TimesLIVE
Seipati Mothoa
www.timeslive.co.za
