Patients are suffering huge distress at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital as operations are delayed or cancelled due to a shortage of anaesthetists.
The anaesthetic department has not had a permanent head for six months and there are six unfilled anaesthetist posts.
At the orthopaedic department, patients are told they will have to wait until the new financial year in April before they can have surgery to fix broken bones.
This unacceptable situation is caused by the Gauteng Health Department’s budget crisis which has force hospitals to freeze posts.
Seven major medical companies, including Smith and Nephew and Strykers, have stopped supplying vital equipment because they have not been paid.
Doctors complain that even sutures are in short supply.
The DA is calling for the removal of Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, and head of department Mr Lesiba Malotana.
Drastic action is needed to put in top-class people to fix a department plagued by incompetence and corruption.