Management of the Johannesburg Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital has denied reports that it has failed to make plans for alternative treatment sites for cancer patients following the fire that broke out in April. There are reports that some patients who were receiving treatment at the hospital are struggling to get their medication.
This after the fire forced the closure of certain sections of the hospital.
Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire brings the safety of government buildings back to the spotlight:
Spokesperson Lungi Mvumvu says plans are in place for patients especially those who are on chronic medication.
“Collection of medication has been moved to different hospitals and patients are encouraged to take their script and their hospital cards to the different hospitals. We’ve got our pharmacists operating from those hospitals and we have patients who are on specialised medication. We are in discussions with pharmacy managers of different hospitals to order the medication for our patients.”
‘Heads will roll’
In April, Gauteng government said should the Charlotte Maxeke hospital fire be found to be the result of human error, heads will roll. The blaze broke out in a storage room, then spread to other parts of the hospital.
Gauteng Government Spokesperson, Thabo Masebe, said authorities were still assessing the full cost of the damage.
“When Minister Mkhize went there he was given a figure of R40 million, we are still awaiting a full assessment to determine the damage caused by the fire.”
However, he declined to take questions on the state of safety equipment at state hospitals.
“I don’t want to get involved in the issues of fire hydrants and we’re glad that the fire was finally extinguished, the Joburg fire department, assisted by Ekurhuleni and other municipalities were able to battle to extinguish it.”
Masebe insisted that the safety of patients is always a priority.
“We do everything to ensure that patients are safe, and that is why even in the event of a fire, we were able to move them to safety, we will do everything to make sure that patients are safe in that hospital and every other public hospital.”
