Critical state of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital puts undue pressure on other hospitals
PARKTOWN – The Wits Faculty of Health Sciences has called for undamaged parts of Charlotte Maxeke to be re-opened.
The Wits Faculty of Health Sciences has expressed their support of Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s call to declare Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) a local state of disaster. In a Twitter post by the Gauteng Government on 4 June, Premier Makhura was quoted as saying, “As the Executive Council, we want to declare a local state of disaster on CMJAH. This will allow us to open some parts of the hospital to provide necessary services to patients, especially during the time of Covid-19.”
Through a statement by the Dean, Professor, Shabir Madhi on behalf of the Faculty of Health Sciences, the faculty said, “Our provincial healthcare system is under severe strain. The protracted closure of CMJAH, the water crisis across several hospitals in Gauteng, and the increase in Covid-19 admissions as we enter the third wave of the pandemic, threatens to collapse an already unstable system.
“The loss of critical bed space at CMJAH has put undue pressure on other hospitals which are currently functioning at capacity. Helen Joseph Hospital, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, and Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital have experienced crippling water shortages in the past few weeks and as a result, have not been able to deliver adequate healthcare services to their patients.”
The statement continued that notwithstanding the impact this has had on the province’s healthcare system, the closure of CMJAH has also had significant consequences for the Faculty of Health Sciences’ clinical training programmes. The faculty stated that although students allocated to CMJAH were distributed among the other teaching hospitals, this only served to add to the burden and stress of clinicians trying to manage the service delivery crisis. “Student numbers across the other clinical platforms have reached a level that prevents proper clinical exposure and training. Inadequate clinical training of undergraduate students has a knock-on effect in the capabilities of this group as future interns and doctors.”
Prof. Madhi added, “What we face is no longer just a healthcare crisis – it is a humanitarian crisis.
“As a faculty, we echo the call for provincial authorities to declare the CMJAH fire and ongoing closure, a disaster. It is our belief that our provincial health system simply cannot withstand the ongoing closure. The undamaged parts of CMJAH (blocks 1, 2 and 5) should be reopened as a matter of urgency to prevent further collapse of the system.
“We also call for urgent solutions to the water shortages faced by the other teaching hospitals, regular and transparent communication by the Gauteng Department of Health authorities, and the opening of Covid beds with appropriate staffing. This will free up resources and expedite the re-opening of the hospital.”
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