Question NW1307 to the Minister of Health
19 May 2023 - NW1307
Chirwa, Ms NN to ask the Minister of Health
(a) How long has the stock shortage of surgical metal being experienced at the Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha resulted in patients being turned away without assistance when seeking orthopaedic intervention, (b) what other hospitals are affected by the same issue and (c) what measures of intervention (i) will he take to resolve the crisis and (ii) are in place to prevent the shortage of such surgical metal?
Reply:
(a) According to the Eastern Cape province this issue was experienced in August 2021 and is attributable to a tender process that made it impossible to have the necessary range of products to choose from.
The key challenge with implants at Livingstone hospital and the whole EC province is the absence of a comprehensive transversal contract and gross budget limitations within the province. The hospital is the only referral hospital for implants in the Western area of the Eastern Cape resulting in massive backlogs.
(b) We are not aware nor informed of any other hospitals experiencing this issue;
(c) (i) To address the budgetary limits, there is a plan to source additional funding that can only be sourced from the Eastern Cape Provincial Treasury. Where possible, the National Department of Health may assist the province, however, it also depends on the availability of additional funding from the National Treasury.
To address the orthopaedic surgery problem that have an impact on Livingstone hospital the following interventions have been proposed to the Eastern Cape Province:
- Strengthening the General Surgical service provision to Uitenhage Provincial Hospital with the allocation of a designated theatre with needed staff support
- Increase Level 1 and 2 beds through the reclassification of PE Provincial Hospital (hybrid) to provide additional theatre access for general surgery.
- Fully establish the surgical disciplines at Dora Nginza Hospital.
- Establish the out-reach and in-reach (Cataract Surgery and General Surgery).These are both underway for Humansdorp and Settlers Hospitals.
- The above-mentioned measures will help address the backlog issues, theatre inefficiencies, remove level 1 cases from regional and tertiary hospitals.
(ii) To deal with the issue of the provision of adequate suppliers, there is also a plan to develop a transversal contract at National level that will also enhance services across other provinces facing similar challenges.
There has also been a discussion that the Eastern Cape should participate in the Western Cape contract to fast track the provision of surgical implants as an immediate intervention.
END.