THE Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal is yet to confirm reports that medical equipment at Ngwelezana Hospital has been repaired.
A query sent two weeks ago has gone unanswered despite assurances it was receiving attention.
The Zululand Observer reported last year that the hospital’s mammogram machine broke down in July, meaning more than 2 000 women would have missed potentially life-saving breast cancer screenings.
Ngwelezana, a regional hospital, serves 19 hospitals throughout the Zululand, King Cetshwayo and uMkhanyakude districts, which according to 2011 census data has a population of approximately three million people.
It is known as one of the top trauma centres in the province and on average 60 000 new patients visit the facility annually, averaging 7 700 new patients each month.
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Last month the Democratic Alliance in KZN called the hospital a ‘pit of hell’ in a statement issued by health spokesman for the party, Dr Imraan Keeka.
Keeka confirmed that sources had informed him that other machinery, such as the CT scanner, were also offline.
One doctor, who for obvious reasons did not wish to be named, said the breakdown of equipment was a common occurrence that staff had learned to live with.
‘We make do with what we have. You cannot throw your hands up if a patient can’t get a CT. We were trained before these things were available so we treat as doctors have treated for decades,’ said the doctor, while confirming not all has been repaired as reports suggest.
The hospital’s Lodox machine, a high-tech fast x-ray machine used to treat serious trauma patients, was also offline.
At the time the hospital’s Acting Manager Dr Bright Madlala said the delay was being caused by a wait for the provincial health department’s Health Technology Services (HTS) division to issue an ‘order to service providers’ to repair the machines.
‘All medical equipment in the hospital has service providers responsible for maintaining and servicing them where necessary,’ explained Madlala.
‘Once the quotation is received, it is sent to HTS, who then issue an order for the machine to be repaired. This is why there is sometimes a delay in repairing these machines.’
He said often replacement parts would need to be ordered from overseas, further delaying repairs.
Madlala said when their breast cancer testing machine is in working order, the hospital carries out an average of five mammograms a day.
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