Overcrowding at Tembisa Hospital is a major concern – DA
The unannounced visit was part of the DA’s #HospitalHealthCheck campaign. They were there to assess the state of the hospital and the care that patients receive, as well as to determine what Tembisa Hospital may need to render better services to patients.
The DA led an impromptu oversight visit to Tembisa Hospital on May 29.
The group included Gauteng shadow MEC for health Jack Bloom, DA spokesperson for health Dr Neil Campbell MP, Tembisa DA constituency head Graham Gersbach MPL and DA Ekurhuleni councillor Eulbri Kubay.
The unannounced visit was part of the DA’s #HospitalHealthCheck campaign.
They were there to assess the state of the hospital and the care that patients receive, as well as to determine what Tembisa Hospital may need to render better services to patients.
The DA representatives found that the hospital mostly struggles with overcrowding and staff shortages.
Bloom said Tembisa Hospital is trying to come up with innovative ways to cope with overcrowding and staff shortages.
“The hospital serves a population of 2.5 million and delivers 16 000 babies a year, the second highest number in Gauteng,” said Bloom.
The hospital’s CEO, Lekopane Mogaladi, said the large increase in patient numbers often results in patients having to sleep on stretchers or mattresses on the floor, particularly in the casualty ward and in the medical wards.
“There are 840 beds, but there can be close to 1 000 admitted patients at busy periods,” said Mogaladi.
He said there are usually 200 medical patients a day, but only 176 beds in the medical wards.
“The 30-bed psychiatric ward is also usually full, so psychiatric patients have to be placed in other wards, which can cause security and other problems,” added Mogaladi.
Nursing manager Wilfred Mothwane said Tembisa Hospital has a shortage of more than 600 nurses and yet the Department of Health has only given permission to fill four out of 49 official vacant positions. Currently, Tembisa Hospital employs a total of 2 118 staff members altogether.
“We were told, however, that according to international norms and standards the hospital should have at least 628 more nurses to provide a proper service to patients. They are running with only about 40 per cent of the nurses that are really needed,” said Bloom.
Bloom said the staff shortage puts extreme strain on them and increases the risk of medical negligence, which leads to large payouts that strain the health budget even further.
“I was encouraged by Dr Mogaladi’s plan with a private partner to open a prefabricated medical ward with 24 beds in August this year, bypassing the dysfunctional Department of Infrastructure Development, which usually takes years to build anything. He is also trying innovative ways like block bookings to bring down the waiting periods for patients,” explained Bloom.
He said a new CT scanner is due to arrive in December this year to replace a machine that is slow and often breaks down.
“Tembisa Hospital would benefit if the Gauteng health department expanded the Edenvale Hospital and built a new hospital in Kempton Park, which would give patients alternative hospitals to visit in a large catchment area,” added Bloom.
Bloom said he was concerned that psychiatric patients are kept at this hospital for long periods of time as there are not enough beds for them at Weskoppies Mental Hospital. They should only be at Tembisa Hospital for a 72-hour observation period before they are discharged or sent to a longer-term facility.
“I hope that the Gauteng health department reconsiders its staff freeze and assists this hospital to be properly staffed and equipped to serve a large and growing population,” added Bloom.
