POLOKWANE – Visitors to the children’s cancer ward, the Tough Living with Cancer (TLC), at the Pie-tersburg Provincial Hospital said they were shocked when they found a syringe needle on the ground at the entrance to the ward.
According to Solly Lediga, a visitor to the TLC ward, he found the needle when he visited the ward over the Easter weekend.
He said the needle seemed to have been in its packaging at first, but it looked as if somebody stepped on it, as the packaging was damaged and the needle exposed.
“I reported the matter to one of the nurses who said she would look into the matter, but nobody actually did anything. I had to remove the needle myself.
“I did not want to throw the needle in the dustbin at the hospital, because I feared it could injure somebody like a refuse collector. I took the needle home and disposed of it very carefully,” he said.
“I shudder to think that a child could have stepped in that needle. How can somebody just lose a needle like that?”
Dr Lesibana Ledwaba, a medical practitioner in the city, told Review that it was very important to deal with medical waste, including syringe needles, in the correct way.
“Unsafe management of hazardous health care waste, particularly in its disposal, may increase the risk of needle stick injuries, transmission of infectious agents and expose unsuspecting parties to unnecessary and entirely preventable risks.
“The severity of the risk associated with such exposures may be difficult to quantify, and such exposures should be prevented,” he said.
Adéle van der Linde, spokesperson for the department of health, said the department would investigate the incident.
“The department in no way condones the wrongful disposal of medical waste. The hospital has a well implemented waste disposal system in place and this type of disposal is not allowed under any circumstances,” Van der Linde said.
In February Review reported on a syringe needle shortage at hospitals and clinics in and around Polokwane. Women who needed injections as part of their family planning schedules and children who needed innoculations, were turned away.
At the time, another department of health spokesperson, Macks Lesufi, said the crisis was solved on February 12. However, he could not explain how many needles were delivered at the time. “We cannot say how many where delivered as needles are disposal, but we made sure enough needles where delivered and that the clinic had enough,” he said.
