POLOKWANE – Cancer patients no longer have to wait for radiation treatment after the department of health fixed the radiation machine that was broken last week.
This after Review reported last week that patients who had to receive radiation therapy at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital were sent home because the radiation machine was out of order.
The machine allegedly broke last Monday.
Patients who spoke to Review on condition of anonymity out of fear of being victimised, said hospital personnel explained to them that the radiation machines were very old and that the department did not have money to buy new machines.
However, on March 4, during the provincial budget speech, the province received an overall budget allocation of R51,4 billion and from this amount R14,3 billion was allocated to the department of health.
The machines were fixed last week and started working on Friday, but yesterday (Tuesday) morning the machines were allegedly not working for a while.
“The machine had a few technical problems, but it was resolved by 10:00 and we received our radiation treatment,” one of the patients explained.
Adéle van der Linde, department of health spokesperson, confirmed that the hospital had two radiation machines and only one of the two was working.
“We are upgrading one of the machines.
“We have extended the hours of our treatment sessions so that all patients will be accommodated,” Van der Linde explained.
She advised patients to contact the MEC’s hotline at 0800 91 91 91 if they had any complaints or suggestions on how to improve service delivery.
