The Eastern Cape government is pleased with the progress made by the St Mary’s Private Hospital after reported problems at the facility during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane visited the hospital after concerns were raised about a seemingly high death rate at the private hospital.
There were also reports about improper treatment of patients with COVID-19 at the hospital.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country almost five months ago, allegations surfaced that patients were neglected at the hospital. Healthcare workers also complained about a lack of personal protective equipment (PPEs).
There were also reports about the ill-treatment of staff members, with some forced to work while waiting for their coronavirus test results. Others were allegedly told not to disclose their status.
Allegations also surfaced on social media about an abnormally high fatality rate at the hospital.
Premier Mabuyane says the report they received from hospital management is satisfactory.
“There’s been a couple of issues in the past about the hospital itself and we were also concerned about the fatalities that we were observing as we analysed numbers around here. It’s not a bad situation at all. But we just wanted to make sure that things are okay. You remember also the visit of the portfolio committee that didn’t actually go well and we are trying to make it a point that since then we met with the management in East London. We attended to issues. We have seen great improvement. Yes of course numbers are going down and we are seemingly plateauing now and we are leveling the curve as the province. I must say I’m impressed with the kind of work that they’ve done, the improvement that they’ve actually put in place,” says Mabuyane.
Today we’re here to assess St Mary’s Private Hospital response to #COVID19SA as part of ongoing Hospital Visits since #Lockdown. As @EASTERNCAPEGOV we’re satisfied with improvements that @LifeHealthcare_ is making to ensure matters raised by public are attended to pic.twitter.com/RZu6VMhfgS
— Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane (@OscarMabuyane) August 20, 2020
The hospital management of Life St Mary’s defended themselves. They say most of the fatalities were due to co-morbidities and late arrivals at the hospital.
“I think mainly we saw a lot of patients coming very, very late to the hospital. I think that were the major problems that we saw. And some of the patients you will find that they come to the hospital, by the time they reach our ER unit some of them have already demised purely because they’re coming from home via cars instead of coming to the hospital. And now they miss that opportunity of getting oxygen,” says the hospital’s manager Thabo Mosheledi.
Premier Mabuyane has urged health workers to use available platforms like the Health Ombudsman to report such cases.
State of Eastern Cape hospitals under the spotlight
Earlier in August, Deputy Public Protector, Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka described the state of some hospitals in the Eastern Cape as disturbing.
Gcaleka visited the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the OR Tambo District Municipality to get first-hand experience of the reported working conditions in some hospitals.
After visiting the Mthatha General and Sulenkama hospital in Qumbu, Gcaleka conceded that aging infrastructure, a shortage of staff and a lack of resources are hampering the delivery of basic healthcare services to the people.
“What is utmostly disturbing was the state of the hospitals. At Qumbu, the situation in that hospital is terrifying and that is the report we got from the management and the workers themselves that they are actually working in a scary environment. The building is dilapidated,” says Gcaleka.
Refurbishment of hospitals
Following Gcaleka’s visit, Mabuyane said government is working hard to address infrastructure challenges at various hospitals across the province.
Mabuyane says they have set aside millions of rands towards revamping these hospitals.
“As leadership, we are elected to find solutions to the challenges of our people. Thus, we had to reprioritise the budget within the administration to raise funds for the refurbishment of our health care facilities. We identified a total of 86 refurbishment projects across all six districts and two metros with a combined value of R594 million, which will guarantee us 2458 COVID-19 beds.”
