Hoarding, profiteering see hospitals lacking vital equipment

Hospitals in both the private and public sector are starting to feel the pinch, with personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages becoming more widethespread due to people stockpiling due to the coronavirus, and others trying to make a quick buck.

Despite receiving additional equipment supplied by the Gift of the Givers on Thursday, two KwaZulu-Natal public hospitals are said to be facing an alarming shortage of personal protective equipment for their medical staff at the frontlines of the battle against coronavirus.

According to staff at RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth, Durban, and Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi, they are running out of equipment such as masks.

In a letter sent to staff at Prince Mshiyeni from the hospital’s CEO, staff were informed that supplies were running low, and they had been unable to secure additional N95 masks for their suppliers.
Despite this, staff were instructed to continue seeing patients, as well conducting swabs for possible Covid-19 infections. The letter ends with a threat that any medical staff refusing to do so would be disciplined and reported to their professional associations.

According to a statement from the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), “This intimidation is happening all over KZN it’s not a secret.”

They said: “There are institutions around Durban where nurses and doctors every morning queue in front of management boardrooms to demand masks.

“Other institutions are saying nurses must reuse masks because they do not have enough. We’ve never heard of masks being reused to a point that workers are intimidated by being disciplined.”

When contacted for comment on the matter, the acting CEO of R. K. Khan who was identified only as Dr. D Behader claimed that the hospital was not facing a shortage. Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital could not be reached for comment.ed to their professional council.

Meanwhile, an orthopaedic surgeon from Durban, Dr Rinesh Chetty, has hit out at private medical supply companies and members of the public trying to cash in the Covid-19 pandemic.
He claimed that he has had numerous people approach him with offers of PPE supplies at outrageously marked up prices.

He wrote on Friday: “The same people sitting safely in their homes asking me to pay for my gear, so they can make a profit, will be the ones I am risking my life for to treat their families, friends and maybe themselves.”

He reminded those trying to cash in that healthcare workers put their lives on the line daily, and begged them to drop off any stockpiled equipment at their local healthcare facilities, or at the very least resell them at a reasonable price.

“We have come to terms with the fact that we will get sick and we are training our back-up as we speak but trust me when I say, there is not enough of us.

“The more gear we have the longer we can work, it is a matter of time before we get ill, it is a sobering realization that every healthcare workers wakes up to every morning when they go to work during this pandemic. Worrying about your PPE should not be an issue.”scribe my disgust,”
– news@citizen.co.za

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