Severe budget cuts put Gauteng hospitals at risk, DA warns

The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has said it continues to prioritise filling critical positions in the province’s hospitals amid a “disaster” due to severe budget cuts. 

Patients in Gauteng hospitals are at risk of facing a disaster as posts have been frozen due to budget constraints. 

This is according to Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow health MEC Jack Bloom, who said hospital CEOs were told that no new staff can be hired and overtime was slashed last week. 

Hospital CEOs told no new staff can be hired – DA

The budget constraints are a result of National Treasury guidelines on cost containment measures implemented across national and provincial departments in South Africa. 

According to the department, prior to filling any vacancies, approval from the premier’s office and the Gauteng provincial treasury is needed.

ALSO READ: Patients sleep on floor of Helen Joseph Hospital’s casualty ward while other beds lie empty

The department also experienced a gap in its cost of employee budget exceeding R500 million due to last year’s wage agreement, which wasn’t fully funded by Treasury.

“This and other factors have placed a huge strain on the department’s resources,” GDoH spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said.

Bloom said that the situation is so bad that some doctors and nurses have been warned they may not be paid in December. 

Health department under financial strain

“With hospitals already understaffed, patients will bear the brunt of the freeze. Waiting times for surgery will increase, and the risk of medical negligence will rise sharply,” he said in a statement on Monday. 

According to Bloom, this hiring freeze is a reflection of the department’s ongoing financial mismanagement and corruption, since the department failed to spend R1.1 billion of the allocated funds from the previous year.

ALSO READ: Life Esidimeni deaths: Calls for former health MEC to be charged with culpable homicide

He added that billions are also wasted, as seen at Tembisa Hospital, where the SIU found that R3 billion was misspent on overpriced goods from questionable companies.

“The staffing crisis could have been averted with proper planning, but reckless spending and poor governance have left hospitals in a precarious state,” Bloom said. 

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the department said all government departments have expressed concern on the impact of the budget constraints when it comes to service delivery, such as sustaining healthcare services. 

Department enagement to get critical positions filled

The department said it will continue to engage with the provincial Treasury and the premier’s office to get all already advertised critical positions filled.

It is also engaging hospital CEOs and organised labour to inform them of the budgetary limitations and steps being taken to alleviate the issue.

ALSO READ: Gauteng Health MEC confirms number of patients awaiting surgery tops 38 000

“In the meantime, the GDoH wishes to state that it will continue to prioritise the filling of critical clinical vacant positions in various facilities, including nursing, heads of departments, and heads of units, as and when it gets concurrence that funding is available,” Modiba said.

“The department will also be approaching Premier’s budget committee scheduled for November to make a business case for additional resources.”

‘Cut corruption’

In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Blooms said that the DA believes that instead of cutting hospital posts, the department should cut corruption. 

“Cut the stealing because that’s really what’s affecting our hospitals,” he said.