Mpumalanga province’s KwaMhlanga hospital has allegedly been working with out an X-ray machine for over a month, with sufferers being ferried to a different hospital over 60km away with a view to get scans.
Patients on the provincial hospital, about 70km northeast of Pretoria, have been advised that the X-ray machine has damaged down and the broken half may solely be sourced overseas.
On Thursday, sufferers with their limbs in casts and a few in wheelchairs and on crutches, who want X-rays to evaluate their restoration, have been sorted into teams to be transported to Mametlhake, about 65Km away.
“It is a really frustrating situation and it has been two months now. In the case of casualties it is even worse because a doctor cannot do anything until they have X-rays of a patient,” a member of the nursing workers who requested not be named mentioned.
She mentioned Mametlhake hospital additionally has just one X-ray machine, and that it took the entire day to get all their x-rays taken earlier than the drive again to KwaMhlanga.
Jabu Ndala, who broke his proper leg throughout soccer observe, mentioned he has been to Mametlhake hospital twice since he fractured his limb three weeks in the past.
“A nursing sister explained how their machine was not working because of a damaged part only found abroad. So she politely explained the situation to us and how it affected their work. We know their predicament and so we have to be a bit more patient with them,” he mentioned.
Ndala mentioned the affect of the absence of the X-ray machine on the hospital was that sufferers spend the entire day on a check-up that might take a couple of hours.
Mpumalanga provincial division of well being spokesperson Chris Nobela is but to reply to request for remark.
Bad fame
This newest disaster comes because the hospital is working exhausting to shake-off its notorious fame as one of many worst hospitals and being nicknamed “hlala kwabafileyo” or stick with the useless, as a result of complaints of negligence, poor workers perspective, and lack of treatment in addition to tools.
Public hearings organised by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) between November 2017 and February 2018 heard how sufferers’ recordsdata have been typically misplaced on the hospital, resulting in delays in ready instances, prognosis, and therapy of sufferers.
According to a report issued by TAC after the hearings, workers typically handled sufferers terribly as a result of stress, exhaustion, and burnout on account of the malfunction within the well being system together with lack of time, instruments, tools or medicines.
But chatting with sufferers queuing for well being companies this week painted an image of an improved facility and repair.
The TAC had really helpful, amongst different interventions, pressing filling of vacancies, higher workers assist, and that every one workers put on title tags, and the complaints register should be seen and accessible to sufferers.
Several sufferers spoke extremely of the improved service on the facility, saying their complaints not fell on deaf ears.
“A lot has changed and the staff is more polite and treat people with dignity. Even if you wait for way too long, at least you are treated like a human being,” epilepsy affected person Grace Motha mentioned.
