Private virus patients may be forced to go to state hospitals

The government could force private Covid-19 patients to be treated in public hospitals, despite the private health sector vowing it was ready to deal with the pandemic.

As the virus continues to spread in South Africa with 16 cases recorded by yesterday afternoon, the public and private sector were scrambling to contain the virus, both working closely with the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).

According to national health department spokesperson Popo Maja, many patients were treated at private facilities – but this could soon change.

“Right now there are patients in the private health facilities. However, the expertise to manage the coronavirus is in government. It is possible that all patients will be moved to designated public hospitals.”

Maja said treatment for the virus depended on various factors. “It all depends on the symptoms each person displays. Some chronic conditions may be aggravated by Covid-19.”

Project manager at the Free Market Foundation Chris Hattingh said mixing private and public healthcare was a bad idea.

Not only could it have legal implications because of a patient’s consent, it was also bound to get dark quickly if government resources became strained.

“Surely you would have to consider patient consent because it should be their choice what they want to pay for.”

Hattingh believed the private sector did have the expertise and resources to deal with the illness.

“I don’t believe the public sector alone will have the capacity to handle this, looking at examples like Life Esidimeni.

“Public hospitals are under-equipped and under-staffed so it will be very difficult for them to contain this.”

Major private healthcare groups, including Netcare, Life and Lenmed, assured the public they were prepared to deal with the virus.

Life Healthcare says it is working closely with the NICD and has put a number of risk protocols in place.

Netcare formed a task team in January and implemented precautionary measures.

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