Gauteng hospitals become Covid-19 hotspots, as excess deaths skyrocket

Gauteng hospital workers in the eye of the raging Covid-19 infection storm say critical care beds and staff shortages are leading to deaths that could have been prevented if the public health sector was better prepared.

This as concerns are raised that hospitals themselves are also fast becoming super-spreaders among staff and patients, while excess deaths have shot up by over 2,000 in the last weeks of last month.

“I have never seen anything like what I am seeing here. The patients that are coming in of all ages, the ones that are waiting for ICU and high-care are so many, and the problem is that many of them don’t make it to the wards and they die in casualty waiting for a bed,” says an admin clerk at Tshwane District Hospital.

The hospital has recently merged with Steve Biko Academic hospital, allowing for more Covid-19 care capacity.

According to the Gauteng health department, a total of 7,927 people are currently hospitalised for Covid-19 in Gauteng, with 2,600 in public hospitals and 5,327 in private facilities.

As of Sunday, 736,315 people had been vaccinated in the province.

These numbers differ from those of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, who say 8,105 people in Gauteng are actually currently hospitalised. Of these, 1,343 are in ICU and 689 in ventilation and 1,484 currently being oxygenated.

Also Read: Nasrec gone, bed space low, as third wave washes over Gauteng hospitals

Staff overwhelmed

The Young Nurses Indaba Trade Union (YNITU) has raised the alarm that healthcare workers are facing under-staffing challenges, equipment shortages, and a growing influx of patients. This, they say, is leading to preventable deaths as hospitals scramble to save lives under stressful conditions.

According to the South African Medical Research Council, in its weekly report on excess deaths, Gauteng’s figures went from 12,863 to 14,227 in the last two weeks of June.

“The first issue is that Gauteng is hard hit by Charlotte Maxeke hospital not functioning because beds especially ICU and high care beds are short and the province is really pulling hard. Secondly the closure of the field  hospital was a wrong decision,” says YNITU’s Lerato Madumo-Gova.

“Another issue is that even though its been 15 months, there have not been any new structures built to extend hospitals or even a single new hospital built, which any normal country would do in our situation.

“Government is not keeping tabs on the illnesses and deaths of staff members,” Maduma-Gova explains, “making it difficult to plan for staff shortages which have been a constant issue during the third wave of Covid-19 infections”.

One of the issues keeping staff busy is the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. According to Maduma-Gova, healthcare workers were not informed until the last minute that the rollout had been extended to other public service workers, such as police officers.

“The same workforce that must work on Covid-19 patients, are administering the vaccines even though they are burnt out and unhappy with the conditions they are in,” she says.

Also Read: Covid-19 third wave: Gauteng hospitals ‘resilient’ despite spike in infections

People dying at home

DA MPL Jack Bloom said he was also concerned about the supply of respiratory equipment as ICU beds are becoming increasingly in demand.

Despite the extra bed capacity created at major hospitals for Covid-19, including 500 beds at Chris Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Gauteng hospitals are struggling to cope with the third wave of Covid-19 infections which has intensified over the last week, he says.

“I also think there is under-counting of patients in public hospitals and a lot more people should be in public hospitals, but are not because they are either not being diagnosed or they are coming too late. I know that many people are dying at home, and you can see that in the excess deaths figures that far more people are dying in Gauteng than the reported Covid-19 deaths.”

Breathing equipment a growing concern

Members of the YNITU have complained of equipment shortages at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, which has had to convert one of its post-natal wards into a Covid-19 ward.

According to Duma-Gova, staff members raised concerns over this because the hospital already has challenges with resources.

“Over the weekend, some of our colleagues at Rahima Moosa hospital informed us that after only one shift change, one of the post Natal wards was converted into a Covid-19 ward. Our concern is that what we know about that ward is there are only two oxygen points and if Covid-19 patients go there they are going to die.”

According to information Maduma-Gova received from the hospital, there was also a shortage of mobile oxygen cylinders, making the situation more dire.

Another hospital on Gauteng’s West Rand last week had to close some of its operating theatres due to a lack of oxygen.

“All over Gauteng hospitals are having shortages of oxygen masks and ventilators and we know there is a shortage around the country,” Maduma-Gova said.

Simnikiweh@citizen.co.za