Stanger Hospital denies “disaster zone” claims

The Stanger Hospital has strongly refuted allegations that it is a “disaster zone”, unable to perform many tasks expected of it.

This follows allegations by the Democratic Alliance in KwaDukuza that the hospital's CT scanner does not work, there are insufficient life support facilities in the neonatal and paediatric units and a shortage of Mantoux tests which are used as part of diagnosing tuberculosis (TB).

Hospital management accused the DA of making allegations without visiting the hospital or consulting them. However they confirmed that the CT scanner has been out of order since January.

“Like any other equipment it can break down. It is not functioning and needs to be repaired,” said Stanger hospital CEO Thamela Ngcobo.

The hospital has sent all the relevant documents to the health department for the scanner to be fixed. In the meantime, patients who need scans are being sent to other hospitals in the area.

“We have had to make other plans but it is definitely not a case where patients are being left with no options,” said medical manager Dr Gustavo Lopez.

The hospital also has access to aero-medical services and patients can be transferred by air for scans in emergencies.

“It must be made clear that ours is not the only CT to be broken in the province,” said Lopez.

Head of paediatrics Dr Jerom van Lobenstein said the neonatal unit usually delivers 600 newborns every month and around 75 are admitted to the nursery for care.

The hospital recently upgraded to a district level and legislation stipulates that their units do not need to have life support. Nevertheless the unit has two intubated life support machines and three non-invasive continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines.

“One of our intubated life support units is out of order, but we still have one working as well as three CPAPs available which are more applicable in neonatal wards,” said Van Lobenstein.

“It is certainly not a case of children being left to die. We actively manage babies from as small as 600 grams,” he added.

The DA also highlighted that the paediatric ward only has one ventilator. Management pointed out that it is not a paediatric ICU. However they are able to stabilise patients in the ward and they can be transported to other hospitals if need be.

“We did not have this capacity two years ago and a ventilator is nothing without trained staff,” said van Lobenstein. The unit also went from having one to four paediatric specialists in the last three years.

Management confirmed there was a shortage of Mantoux tests throughout the country and globally, but maintained that service delivery and patient care has not been compromised.

The hospital still has the state of the art GeneXpert diagnostic test, which can give a TB diagnosis in 24 hours.

“Diagnosis of TB cannot fully rely on one diagnostic test alone. With GeneXpert we can also identify if people are resistant to medications,” he said.

Van Lobenstein was optimistic about the hospital's future.

“I have worked at three different hospitals and you have no idea how special this place is. Our staff are passionate and are very proud to work here.”