Ngwelezana Hospital needs oncology unit – CEO
CT scanner is working excessively to meet the huge demand
NGWELEZANA Hospital’s Acting CEO, Dr Bright Madlala, says establishing a fully functional oncology unit at the state hospital will be a sensible development.He says the hospital’s CT scanner is working excessively to meet the huge demand.
The hospital serves a population of 2.5 million people from the King Cetshwayo, uMkhanyakude and Zululand districts. ‘This results in intermittent breakdowns which affect service delivery, but overall cancer patients have not been affected as they are referred to other hospitals when the need arises.’
He said plans are underway to ensure that another CT scan machine is installed to improve patient care. Madlala responded to the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) investigative report released last week relating to the oncology crisis in KZN.
SAHRC said cancer patients continue to suffer owing to the lack of CT scanners, particularly at Ngwelezana Hospital.’
The commission investigated a number of state hospitals in the province after a complaint by Democratic Alliance KZN health spokesperson, Dr Imran Keeka, who highlighted staff shortages and a lack of functional health technology machines for screening, diagnosing and treating cancer in the province.
The SAHRC found that the Department of Health (DoH) failed to provide access to adequate oncology services to patients and also ‘violated rights to human dignity and life of affected patients’.
The commission recommended that the KZN DoH prioritises the expansion of oncology services at Ngwelezana Hospital.
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Confusion
‘On 11 January the department advised that the infrastructural work at Ngwelezana Hospital would be finalised within the next five years,’ SAHRC said. ‘However, in its letter of 25 May, the department indicated that a new additional CT scanner would be installed at Ngwelezana once building alterations have been finalised, with an anticipated completion date of 31 July this year.’
‘It therefore remains unclear what the date of installation of the CT scanner at Ngwelezana will be.’
In January, Dr Keeka said Ngwelezana Hospital was ‘a pit of hell’, with cancer patients worst affected.
A senior staff member at the hospital claimed that the hospital’s mammogram machine remained broken despite the department having been informed of the situation more than six months ago. As a result early detection of breast cancer is being compromised, the fluoroscopy machine has not been working for almost a year and the hospital’s CT scanner is now only being used for emergency purposes.
‘Madlala said plans to ensure that turnaround times for the repair and servicing of medical equipment have been put in place and have been working effectively.
‘We are busy engaging with service providers to ensure equipment parts are kept in the country to decrease turnaround times. When this is done, we will ensure that non-functioning machines are kept to the absolute minimum.’
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