Gauteng hospitals faces drug shortage
METRO – Gauteng hospitals are reportedly short of 10 000 medicine items
Gauteng hospitals are now facing shortages of drugs.
Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu admitted that Gauteng Province is short of more than 10 000 medicines.
Several surgeries have been delayed due to a shortage of anaesthetic drugs, while patients waited for weeks with no pain medication or not getting enough.
According to Mahlangu, newly contracted suppliers are battling to deliver the high volume of drugs required by various hospitals, and they are still building up stock.
She stated that patients were being switched to available equivalent medicines, and drugs were being sought from alternative suppliers, including overseas – which should arrive by 10 December.
Meanwhile, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom says something must be done to improve the alarming state of the province’s hospitals.
“I have been getting complaints from residents and patience about not getting enough medicine,” said the unimpressed Bloom.
He added that “This situation is very unsatisfactory and should never have been allowed to happen. They did not plan properly and now people are suffering because of this.
“Doctors tell me that patients’ health is compromised by less than ideal medicine substitutions – I hope that this medicine crisis is resolved as soon as possible and measures are taken to ensure 100 per cent availability of essential drugs,” said Bloom.
