Wordplay won’t save patients’ lives

It is extraordinary that Gauteng department of health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba concedes there are 34 528 patients on surgical waiting lists across public hospitals in the province, but denies that’s a backlog.

He says “it is important to differentiate between surgical backlogs and waiting lists” because the waitlist “is a dynamic figure as it fluctuates when new patients are registered on the waiting list and when surgeries are performed”.

That’s bound to be of some comfort to the people with life-threatening conditions – such as cancer patients – who have been told they will have to wait up to eight months to go to theatre.

One man we spoke to doesn’t have that time… he will probably be dead before getting to the front of the queue.

ALSO READ: Over 34 000 patients waiting for surgeries in Gauteng’s public hospitals

The clever wordplay does not disguise the fact that our government hospitals – especially in Gauteng – are a sluggish, overburdened mess.

No doubt the ANC will prescribe a stiff dose of National Health Insurance to cure these ills.

But all we can see is the massive amounts of money squeezed out of salary earners for the scheme will be squandered or stolen.

Whistle-blower Babita Deokaran discovered that at Tembisa Hospital – and paid for her bravery with her life.

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