Tembisa Hospital’s poor service angers residents

By Staff Writer

Residents of Tembisa took to the streets to protest poor service at the hospital. The community members raised concerns about the poor service patients receive from the hospital staff. The hospital has been overwhelmed by patients and cannot provide adequate care. The march was organised by the Tembisa Community Forum, which expressed dissatisfaction with Tembisa Hospital’s treatment of staff and security.

The acting CEO of the hospital, Dr Mohlamme Mathabathe confirmed receiving a memorandum from the community. For quite some time, the hospital has been facing a severe shortage of beds which has resulted in patients sleeping on the floor and others not even receiving treatment.

“In terms of overcrowding, Tembisa Hospital is an old hospital that was built in 1972. At the time, we didn’t have all the settlements, which are around the institution. As a result, the demand for service exceeds the capacity that is available. As a result, in our casualty area, we end up having patients staying longer than 24 hours,” Dr Mathabathe said.

According to Dr Mathabathe, the hospital has only 840 beds, which cannot accommodate all patients. “We are the only hospital in this area, ideally we should have had a regional hospital as well as a district hospital supporting us. But at the moment, we don’t have any,” he added.

He stated that as a medical institution, they strove not to turn anyone away. “When we are full we still accommodate our patients, because we understand that their health needs to be attended to,” he said.

According to Lele Lefakane, Chairperson of the Tembisa Community Forum, the community has aired its grievances with the provincial Department of Health without receiving a response. A Special Investigating Unit is looking into how hundreds of millions of rands were looted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.