An investigation has been launched by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) into allegations of abuse and neglect of patients at dozens of state hospitals, described in a report released by the Freedom Front Plus last week.
The FF+ had submitted the report, compiled from 73 complaints received from patients – to the commission’s Gauteng office in October, reports Business Day.
“It details various allegations, some within the ambit of the SAHRC and others within the ambit of other entities,” said SAHRC Gauteng provincial manager Zamantungwa Mbeki.
Of the 273 complaints received by the FF+ in response to its call for patients to submit information about poor treatment at public health facilities, 93 involved public hospitals as well as three private hospitals, across all nine provinces.
They painted a picture of horrifying neglect and abuse meted out to vulnerable patients by overwhelmed staff working in filthy, ill-equipped and under-resourced facilities.
“There are several integrating issues … those will need to be broken up and individually assessed as some do not fall within the ambit of the SAHRC. We are structuring the investigation accordingly,” Mbeki said.
The FF+ said this week that conditions exposed by patients were proof the government’s National Health Insurance (NHI) plans were doomed to fail.
DA shadow health minister Michele Clark said the government’s push for NHI spelt disaster for the public and private healthcare sectors. “One only has to look at the current state of public healthcare in the country to predict the coming decimation,” she said.
Business Day PressReader article – Commission to probe horrors at hospitals (Open access)
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