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The Gauteng health department’s ongoing financial crisis has once again jeopardised patient care.
This after gas supplies to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital have been discontinued due to unpaid bills.
The supplies were cut off by Egoli Gas more than a week ago, leading to disruptions in hospital operations after the department had failed to pay its R15 million debt.
DA Gauteng shadow health MEC in Gauteng Jack Bloom said this highlights the severe financial mismanagement in the province’s health care system.
Bloom said the latest incident lays bare the ongoing financial mismanagement plaguing the province’s health care system.
“The DA is appalled that the department’s disastrous mismanagement leads to major companies cutting off essential supplies to hospitals,” he said.
“This is yet another example of the department’s abysmal mismanagement as it faces a deficit of more than R7.3 billion in the financial year that ends on 31 March.”
The department acknowledged that services at the two hospitals were affected but said they had not been completely halted.
At Rahima Moosa, the facility was able to mitigate disruptions by using electric autoclaves for sterilisation and gas cylinders in its kitchen to compensate for the lack of central gas supply.
Meanwhile, at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, the cut-off had only affected the domestic hot water supply to the hospital and the sterilisation of medical equipment.
Bloom said while these disruptions were not entirely critical to hospital operations, they still posed significant challenges to providing hot water, sterilisation and cooking.
“Hospitals can find alternatives, but they shouldn’t have to – proper financial planning should ensure all necessary supplies are available,” he said.
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“This issue stems from poor financial management. At the end of the financial year, the department runs out of money and fails to pay suppliers.
“When the new budget cycle begins, they start by settling old debts, creating a cycle of financial instability.
“At the end of the third quarter, accruals were already at R7.3 billion and by the end of the financial year, this figure is likely to exceed R9 billion. The department then begins the new financial year by repaying debts, only to find itself in the same situation again at year-end.”
According to Bloom, some major businesses have stopped supplying medical products and orthopedic surgeries have been deferred until April, when the new financial year begins.
In December, the hospitals also faced a power supply cut-off by City Power due to unpaid electricity bills amounting to more than R40 million.
But Gauteng health officials have disputed some of the outstanding amounts.
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Bloom blamed the crisis on “incompetent top management” who fail to combat waste and corruption.
“The top management including health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko and head of department Lesiba Malotana need to be removed. Premier Panyaza Lesufi must take decisive action,” he said.
“He has to either implement a radical management overhaul and put the right people in place, or place the department under administration. The current leadership has presided over this failure and if they cannot fix it, intervention is necessary.”
The department told The Citizen the late payments were due to contractual disputes and that the matter was receiving attention.
“The hospitals continue to operate as normal. In the main, the hospitals will supply quick freeze food to patients and use nearby facilities to sterilisation medical equipment,” he said.
“The department is investigating the use of alternatives such as biofuel. It remains committed to taking every measure to ensure that service delivery is not compromised at all times.”
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