The Eastern Cape Department of Health has been lambasted for not just what Livingstone Hospital staff allege is a critical shortage of syringes and needles as well as other vital equipment, but also no soap for patients – with managers having to procure vital supplies from other hospitals.
The Public Servants Association (PSA) has slammed the lack of syringes and needles at the Gqeberha hospital, which is the metro’s busiest public medical facility, saying medical personnel were unable to their jobs properly as a result.
“Communities are at severe risk because they are not receiving proper healthcare and staff can’t properly fulfil their duties owing to the employer’s failure to provide critical equipment,” it said in a statement.
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) said the hospital sometimes did not have enough medication for patients, while the shortage of soap for patients to wash themselves went against everything the department’s infectious disease prevention and control measures stood for.
Veli Sinqana, a provincial Denosa spokesperson, told News24 the lack of soap spoke volumes about a facility’s lack of quality assurance, and “needs to be addressed urgently”.
“Besides mpox doing the rounds, we also have other infectious diseases. As much as soap is a basic need, it is essential because it is a detergent,” Sinqana said.
The PSA said other shortages included nappies, nebuliser masks, adult oxygen masks, oxygen regulators, special plasters, ECG electrodes and ECG paper.
“The PSA believes the primary reason … is maladministration by the Department of Health, stemming from the non-payment of service providers.”
However, the department hit back at these allegations, saying when Deputy Director-General Mtandeki Xamlashe visited the hospital last week, the facility was “managing very well”. At an oversight inspection to the depot on Wednesday to check supply levels, there was stock for the hospitals.
“If the depot were having problems, all of the hospitals serviced from that depot would have problems, not just Livingstone.”
Asked if there were enough stock, Xamlashe replied: “That is the million-dollar question. There is never a time when you have enough.
“You always say you have safe supplies, rather than enough, because you never know which disaster might strike the next day and deplete your resources.”
He said the department worked with a stock visibility system, which allowed it to regulate stock at medical facilities across the province.
“If you overstock, you run the risk of stock expiring before it gets used, so you can never fill up your warehouse and say you have enough. You always keep your supplies at a safe level.”
However, Denosa rubbished the department’s claims of a well-functioning hospital, saying people “on the ground” – its nurses – had a true perspective of the situation.
While things might seem to be going smoothly for those in “higher offices”, the nurses struggled daily, the union said.
“The issue is that even if there is stock, it is insufficient. Our nurses are struggling, and this affects the patients, too.”
Manana provided a list of supplies currently in stock: black and green needles; syringes (2ml); Tegaderm medical dressings; blades; Plaster of Paris bandages; ECG electrodes – but could not specify the quantities of these in stock.
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