Johannesburg’s Helen Joseph Hospital has initiated an investigation after a video posted on social media by a patient claimed the hospital is chaotic and that some patients had not been attended to for three days, and also distanced itself from a mini-crisis emerging at the trauma unit after an unofficial closure by the HoD, reports the Sowetan.
The emergency department had posted a closure notice for the month of August, advising patients to seek treatment elsewhere.
On the social media complaints, Gauteng Health spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department took allegations relating to the conduct of its employees seriously and did not condone negative attitudes towards patients.
“The affected patient was invited back to the facility for further medical assessment and verification of her complaint regarding our employee’s alleged conduct,” he said.
On Facebook, the patient had said the hospital was chaotic, she had waited a long time for help and some staff had treated her badly. She also made serious claims about what a doctor said to her.
Complaints about long queues at the facility’s emergency department have exposed the absence of a district hospital to serve the area.
Gauteng Health admitted the hospital is regularly forced to treat patients whose conditions could, and should, be handled at district level, which was driving up patient volumes and putting pressure on staff throughout the hospital, not just in the emergency department.
Mabona told EWN that the recruitment process for the required clinical staff has progressed, and that the department is at an advanced stage of finalising the appointment of personnel.
Last week the DA had expressed concerns about staffing and contract renewal problems at the hospital, with the party’s health spokesperson Madeleine Hicklin saying patients seeking admission to the emergency department were being advised to seek treatment elsewhere.
“The DA demands that Gauteng Health MEC Faith Mazibuko urgently address the obvious human resource and contract renewal challenges that are dogging hospitals across Gauteng,” she said.
According to Hicklin, on 6 August, Dr Patricia Saffy, head of the trauma unit, posted a warning advising patients visiting the emergency department that they would be better served seeking treatment at another hospital, and that the department would remain closed until the end of August.
Hicklin said the warning followed allegations that the department had not paid some staff and that some doctors had not reported for duty.
“The DA has been reliably informed that medical officers’ contracts were not renewed, and many staff in the emergency department have been working without pay or contracts since April. At least two doctors have now left and sought employment elsewhere, leaving the hospital precariously short of trained, qualified staff,” she said.
“Closing an emergency department or diverting patients to other facilities due to lack of medical personnel is illegal and risks the health of patients. Medical diversion can only be implemented if there are no available beds or ventilators.”
Hicklin said the staffing problems at this reflected broader problems across Gauteng’s public healthcare system.
“The department has become known for its unwillingness to fill funded, vacant posts in many of its facilities. A comprehensive investigation by the health ombudsman in March 2025 estimated that Helen Joseph operated with a 30% vacancy rate, especially in nursing and specialised units.”
She said the hospital had also experienced a persistent shortage of permanent executive management and leadership, contributing to operational and human resource problems.
“Staffing challenges are widespread at Helen Joseph Hospital and are a reflection of issues across public hospitals in Gauteng. The organisational plan for hospitals – upon which hospitals are allocated budget and staff – was last updated 20 years ago.”
Hicklin said many of Gauteng’s 37 hospitals had submitted updated organisational plans to Premier Panyaza Lesufi for approval but claimed the plans had remained unsigned for at least two years.
She called on Lesufi to approve the plans to allow hospitals to better plan and budget for staffing needs.
The department had distanced itself from the notice suggesting the emergency unit could not guarantee safe care – and that it would remain closed for the rest of the month, reports The Citizen.
It denied the unit was closed, saying it had “noted with concern a notice … claiming that patients classified as Yellow (Priority 2) at Helen Joseph Tertiary Hospital’s (HJTH) Emergency Department would not be attended to and should not come to the hospital for medical care”, accoriding to Mabona, who described the notice as “a rogue action that disrupted patients and the wider public”. He said “it had nothing to do with the hospital or the department”.
“Patients presenting at the Emergency department are assessed by healthcare professionals and prioritised according to the urgency of their medical condition,” he added, and the fact that Helen Joseph was under operational pressure, including staffing challenges, did not mean patients needing care would be turned away. It was “working on interventions to keep services running safely”.
The Sowetan article – Helen Joseph Hospital probes viral video amid staffing crisis (Restricted access)The Citizen article – Helen Joseph
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