Democratic Alliance is concerned about delayed angiogram machine at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital
The hospital spokesperson says the facility embarked on the radiology renewal project, which involves upgrading equipment.
Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital spokesperson, Tabudi Madisha dismissed claims that heart patients at the hospital were at risk because of the hasty decommissioning of the angiogram machine.
In a media statement released on August 20, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom said, “The Democratic Alliance is concerned that heart patients at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital are at risk because of the hasty decommissioning of the angiogram machine before the new one arrives in three months. This expensive machinery is critical in imaging blocked arteries for vascular surgery to save lives and the limbs of patients with vascular disease.”
Bloom claimed that the old machine was supposed to be replaced in 2018 but medical staff were told in early August this year that it was being decommissioned within a week.
In response to the claims, Madisha said the facility had embarked on the radiology renewal project, which involved upgrading and or replacing various items of equipment in the radiation sciences division, such as CT and MRI scanners, gamma cameras, cobalt machines, etc.
“This process also included the replacement of the biplane angiography machine, which was purchased in November 2011 and reached the end of its life span in January 2022. While the procurement process was underway, an agreement was reached with the manufacturer to continue servicing the angiography machine as it was still usable.”
He added the yearly quality assurance was conducted in March 2022 and would expire in March 2023. After this period, the manufacturer could no longer continue to support the machine due to it being beyond its end-of-life span.
As such, the angiography machine was to be decommissioned in April 2023. However, after successful negotiations with the decommissioning company, an agreement was reached to delay the decommissioning until the end of July 2023.
According to the hospital, the machines are big-ticket items that cost millions of rands per unit (Angio machine costs more than R22m per unit. The procurement process starts years in advance before a piece of medical equipment can be replaced.
The timeframe for the whole procurement, room alterations, and installation or replacement processes varies depending on the size and complexity of the machine.
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