Angry health-care workers have blamed shortages of quality personal protective equipment (PPE) for the death of at least eight doctors from COVID-19 in Gauteng public hospitals last week. The Star reports that the growing outrage among public sector health-care workers comes in the backdrop of an investigation into the massive multibillion-rand looting scandal of the COVID-19 fund allegedly by politically connected individuals.
Fears are that the deceased doctors contracted the disease when they worked without adequate protective gear while some were allegedly poor-quality PPEs.
The report says among the medical practitioners who died on the front line last week were Dr Tokelo Ramakola, who was stationed at Jubilee District Hospital; Dr Duduzile Fakudze, who was working at George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa; Dr Nosipho Tebogo Taye from Leratong Hospital and Dr Jose Mwamba Tshiebwe, who was stationed at Helen Joseph Hospital in Rossmore. Dr Mphadi Clive Mogajane, who was servicing Standerton Hospital, also died last week and was very active in sharing vital information about the pandemic.
The report says several colleagues have expressed their concerns about the growing death of doctors in hospitals owing to the shortage of PPE or bad quality gear that places their lives at risk. The complaints came as Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku and his wife, City of Joburg shared services MMC Loyiso Masuku, were asked to “step aside” along with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, over the R125m personal protective equipment tender which raised questions.
The Star quotes one specialist doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying it was scary to go to work because they didn’t know if they would be the next person to be infected. “Every day doctors and nurses die and nobody is saying anything about it. In some hospitals, the interns are given one mask and are told they must use it for the whole week,” she said.
The doctor said that the situation had made doctors reconsider their career choices even after they had specialised. “Going to work, you’re literally surrendering your own lives…,” she said.
An intern doctor who also asked not to be named said that health-care workers were running out of masks and that the quality of some was “extremely poor”.
The report says Gauteng Health spokesperson Kwara Kekana could only confirm that the department received a report that one doctor died at George Mukhari Academic Hospital last week.
National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) spokesperson Khaya Xaba said that the union believed that some health-care facilities were concealing the statistics of the frontline workers who tested positive or died from COVID-19.
[link url="https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/news/lack-of-quality-ppe-blamed-for-deaths-of-8-gauteng-doctors-who-succumbed-to-covid-19-b6957a13-631d-4ebd-a99c-8f96d4274591"]Full report in The Star[/link]