The South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) is calling on the North West Department of Health to ensure that healthcare facilities are properly equipped to meet the needs of the patients and healthcare workers.
Samatu raised its concerns regarding reports of newborn babies at the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital being placed inside boxes due to a shortage of incubators.
“We simply don’t have the basics and now tomorrow when something happens, the department and the management is going to act shocked and surprised and blame the people that were on the floor on that particular day which is not fair,” Moleme said.
However, the health department’s spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane encouraged the union to engage with the department.
“Issues of the needs of our facilities can be discussed and we believe that there would be some instances where there is a shortage which the department is attending to,” he said.
The union also urged the department to establish a hotline, to enable the doctors to report their challenges.
The union is alleging that several health facilities in the province are without basic tools of trade.
Samatu’s regional chairperson Dr. Mpho Moleme said the doctors have notified management about the lack of resources without any success.
“These issues are raised day in and day out in respective hospitals across the province whereas there is a lack of consumables, lack of human resources, and there is a lack of medication in hospitals.
“And we report them but nothing gets done, instead, there is a popular word that is used among the hospitals and the word is out of stock. Every second thing you ask for it is out of stock,” she said.
The union called on the Department of Health to take accountability for the lack of infrastructure, saying the North West Health Department likes to take a reactive approach when it comes to such management issues.
