Do not postpone hospital treatment due to anxiety
FOURWAYS - Managing director of Netcare's hospital division Jacques du Plessis said he understands the public's concern regarding hospital capacity, given the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the country and particularly in Gauteng.
Netcare Sunninghill Hospital says that while they have seen an increase in Covid-19 positive patients in recent weeks, the hospital still has capacity to treat Covid-19 and other patients.
General manager at Netcare Sunninghill Pieter Louw said, “Our intensive and high care units have high occupancies currently. We are managing the request for beds on an ongoing, 24-hour basis and communicate the occupancies daily to all stakeholders. In addition, we review our staff, equipment, PPE and oxygen levels around the clock to ensure that we have sufficient supplies of all,” said Louw.
Managing director of Netcare’s hospital division Jacques du Plessis said he understands the public’s concern regarding hospital capacity, given the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the country and particularly in Gauteng.”The number of beds available for Covid-19 patients varies from day to day and also depends on what level of treatment the patients require,” said Du Plessis.
He said that the number of critical care beds and ventilation equipment has been increased over the last few months. Netcare hospitals in Gauteng have more than 1 000 critical care beds.Du Plessis noted that not all patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 require critical care.
He said that about 20 per cent of people contracting the virus will require hospitalisation and, of those, between 25 and 30 per cent need critical care. Most patients are treated in general wards, where current occupancy is about 50 per cent overall.While increased demand is expected in Gauteng, Netcare continues to reassess their demand for treatment in order to manage resources effectively.
Netcare hospitals also continue to provide essential services, for example maternity, emergency, cardiac and stroke treatment.Contingency plans are in place to ensure that should a situation arise where a Netcare hospitals does not have capacity in an appropriate unit, patients will be transported by ambulance to be treated in another Netcare hospital.Du Plessis thanked healthcare workers and support staff for their resilience in the face of great uncertainty.
General manager for emergency, trauma, transplants and corporate social investment at Netcare Mande Toubkin said that trauma cases attended to in the Netcare emergency departments (EDs) countrywide increased significantly following the move to Lockdown Level 3 and the unbanning of the sale of alcohol.
Taubkin said that it must be noted that the ED’s focus is to treat patients involved in traumatic incidents rather than test their alcohol levels and keep statistics on whether or not the trauma was alcohol-related.She said that many patients treated in the EDs are innocent victims who are impacted by a vehicle accident caused by a drunken driver, or by domestic violence, for example.
Community members seeking urgent, emergency medical care must avoid postponing treatment because of anxiety about their safety.She said that strict precautionary safeguards have been implemented to maintain a safe environment. All persons seeking assistance in Netcare EDs are risk assessed and tested for Covid-19, if necessary.
ED facilities have been demarcated into specific zones to treat patients according to their risk profile and reduce the possibility of cross infection. Infection prevention is further enhanced through continuous deep cleaning. All staff at Netcare hospitals are also screened daily.
“It is more important than ever not to neglect you and your family’s health during this time. Make an appointment with your GP if you or a loved one is unwell or visit an emergency department,” Toubkin said.
